Lands and Grooves Hills and Valleys
by Gib
Summary: Somebody at Phoenix wants to learn to shoot. Nothing ever goes as planned. Including this story.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: This started out as a personal challenge/exercise to see if I could 1. Write conversations 2. Write facial expressions and character movement and 3. A mission. 3 came along later and I'm still working on that. I've got quite a bit written, just have to clean it up a bit _and_ finish this thing that has taken on a life of it's own. I would like to thank Dlwells51 for her encouragement and for making suggestions when my stuff turned into 'see spot run' writing. This is still pretty rough but I'm happy with it cuz I'm not a writer so... one last thing, it's rated M because I'm paranoid. **

**I own nothing having to do with the show. Wish I did.**

Lands and Grooves Hills and Valleys

Chapter 1

Mac was tired. And sore. The last mission had been considered a success but definitely had taken a toll.

Jack was sporting a spectacular black eye complete with stitches above his eyebrow and a bandage over the bridge of his nose to complete the ensemble.

Mac's 'souvenirs' from the trip came with a splint on his wrist and accompanying sling on his right arm.

Mac used his left hand to grab the headrest of the seat in front of him and pulled himself up with a groan. He stood in the aisle and reached over to give Jack's shoulder a gentle nudge. "Jack" he said softly. "Hey, Jack, we're landing... time to wake up."

Jack woke with a start. Mac had learned a long time ago being within arms reach was never a good idea just in case Jack woke up stuck in a past memory.

Jack cleared his throat. "Hey, we there yet?" He sat up in his seat blinking the sleep away and taking in his surroundings.

Mac smiled and said "yeah, we should be landing in about 10 minutes."

He moved to sit back down in his own seat. Jack was fully awake now and was watching Mac.

Mac was using his left hand to gather both halves of his seat belt. Jack unbuckled his own seatbelt stood and moved across the aisle. He grabbed the buckle on Macs seatbelt. "Here, lemme get that for ya"

Mac tried to grab the buckle with his left hand his eyes flashing as he looked up, "I got it Jack, I can do my own seatbelt." He said annoyed.

Jack ignored Mac's protests and buckled the seatbelt. He sat back and plopped back into his own seat. "Oh, I know you can do your own seatbelt 'mr. stubborn', I just figured you might need a hand."

They sat in silence for a few minutes. Mac knew Jack was just trying to help. He was frustrated he couldn't use his hand and arm and was lashing out at the older man. "Jack"

The older agent looked at Mac, eyebrows raised "yes?" As if he knew what Mac wanted to say.

Macs gaze dropped to his lap. He began to fidget with the splint and sling. "Thanks, I appreciate the help. It's just... it's, well... this sucks" He said pointing at the sling.

Jack's eyes crinkled and he smiled. "Dude, I get it." He held up his right hand, "I spent four months in a cast once. I had to learn to write lefty."

Mac smiled "I don't believe you."

Jacks eyebrows furrowed "Whadya mean you don't believe me? Got the x-rays to prove it." He said defensively

Mac laughed "oh I believe you were in a cast, I just don't believe that you learned to write."

Jack put his hand to his chest, feigning being wounded. "Mac, you hurt me" he smiled.

After their plane landed, It was a short drive to Macs house. Jack pulled into the driveway.

Mac got out and turned to His partner. "You wanna come in?"

Jack remained in the drivers seat "Nah, I'm gonna head home and catch some shut eye. See if I can't kick this headache. You good?"

"Yeah I'm good, probably going to kick back on the couch." He looked down at his arm. "Probably not going to be able to sleep in a bed for a while."

Jack smiled "Oh, I'm sure you'll come up with something, a hammock maybe."

Macs eyes lit up and Jack could see the wheels turning he chuckled. Mac turned to go inside. Jack leaned over to shout through the passenger window. "Hey! I'll be by in the morning to pick you up. Matty wants a debrief and you've got a doctors appointment" He held up and waved a folder that had 'x-ray Do Not Bend' stamped on the outside.

Mac waved and yelled "so, do you!"

Jack waved him off with a grimace as he backed out of the driveway, feeling about the same way as his friend about doctor's appointments.

 **To be continued. I promise. Just have to figure out how to add a chapter without accidentally posting chapter 2 as a different story.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Thanks goes to Dlwells for taking a look at this and making suggestions. It's much appreciated. I would also like to send a shout out to MarenMary93 if you're seeing this chapter, you're directions worked. ;-)**

 **I still don't own anything having to do with the show. They won't return my calls.**

Chapter 2

The next morning Jack arrived at Macs house. He let himself in and yelled "yo! Mac, you up yet?" He heard someone coming down the hall.

"Hey Jack," Mac greeted as he walked into the living room wiping a towel through his wet hair. "I'll be ready in a minute"

Jack sat down on a bar stool and made a show of peering around the kitchen. "Where's Boze? Figured he'd make you waffles or something man, I'm starving."

Mac smiled and shook his head. "Bozer had to go to the lab early, said he needed to talk to somebody about something and check on his molds."

Jack, disappointed, slouched a little on the stool. He looked up at Mac and pointed towards his shoulder. "You need a hand getting back into the sling?"

Mac shook his head "no, thanks though. I got it". He turned to go back to his room. "I'll be out in a minute." He smiled to himself and called over his shoulder, "waffles are in the oven, syrup's in the microwave."

Their first stop once they arrived at Phoenix was the med unit. Since they'd both received treatment before their flight home, this visit was more of a formality. But as with all doctors offices they settled in to wait.

Mac was perched on the exam table fidgeting with the splint on his wrist. Jack sat in a chair and reached around to pull a rolled up magazine from his back pocket. "Dude, relax."

Mac glared at Jack. "Easy for you to say, you're not the one with a messed up shoulder."

Jack knew Mac hated waiting and he hated doctors. "You're right, and I'm sorry man, but you might as well settle down. We cant go anywhere until we see the Doc, so just roll with it brother."

Mac started to look around the small room. He took in the glass jars filled with band aids, tongue depressors, cotton swabs and alcohol wipes. There was a box of medical gloves. Foam, hand sanitizer and a battery operated hands free paper towel dispenser. He started coming up with different things he could do with so much stuff. He looked at Jack. How the man could be so calm... It was frustrating. If they were being held captive in this room, Mac thought, there were at least 15 different ways he could escape.

As if reading his thoughts, Jack cleared his throat. Without looking up he said "Don't even think about it dude. Matty will just send your skinny butt right back here if you take off."

Jack crossed his legs flipping through his magazine. He turned the magazine sideways and held it up admiring the contents.

"What are you reading?" Mac asked suspiciously.

Jack looked up and grinned. He flipped the magazine around to show the centerfold picture of a cowboy riding a bull. "Professional Bull Riders" he put the magazine down. "These dudes are tough man. This guy right here" he held the centerfold up again. "He busted both his legs last year. Ended up coming back and winning a ton."

Mac shook his head and smiled. Relieved his partner wasn't looking at what he originally thought. "I'll never understand people that take that kind of risk for sport."

Jack laughed. "It's not sport man," Mac raised his eyebrows. Jack dipped his head "ok, it is sport but it's also their job. This is what they do for a living. Did you know that the guy that wins at the end of the year gets something like a million bucks."

Mac was surprised to hear the amount of the prize money. "Still seems kind of reckless."

Jacks lips pursed he tilted his head and raised an eyebrow. "You do realize we basically get shot at for a living right?"

Mac was about to reply when the exam room door opened. The doctor walked in and nodded "Gentlemen"

Mac and Jack both nodded and responded in unison "Doc"

The doctor went to the white board hanging on the wall. He pulled a set of x-rays out of a folder and slid them under the clips on the board and turned on the light. "Mr. MacGyver, I've taken a look at your x-rays and I don't see anything that Dr. Manchester didn't note." He looked at Mac. "I suspect you have a second degree separation of the A-C joint but would like to confirm that with an MRI. He reached forward and palpated Mac's shoulder and collar bone. Mac grit his teeth but didn't say anything. The doctor finished with his shoulder and grabbed his hand inspecting each finger then turning Macs hand over. "Any numbness or tingling?" Mac shook his head no.

"Squeeze my fingers." Mac squeezed and felt a burning sensation. He let go. "Any sharp pain or just some discomfort?"

"It's just a little sore" Mac replied.

The doctor turned and scribbled a note in Macs folder.

Mac was looking less than pleased.

Doctor Wexford looked from Jack back to Mac and continued. "If the MRI shows what I suspect as a second degree separation, you're looking at about 3 weeks of immobilization then a couple of weeks of therapy. If it shows a third degree, we can schedule surgery within the next couple of weeks. The wrist splint should come off in a week to 10 days."

Mac sighed. Three weeks was going to feel like an eternity. "Anything I can do in the mean time?"

Doctor Wexford shook his head. "Unfortunately for the shoulder, no. The best course is complete immobilization. We'll fit you with an immobilization brace before you leave today.

You can take it off to shower but I want you to keep that arm in a sling while you're not in the brace." He paused "you can strengthen your wrist by manipulating your fingers. I'll send you home with a therapy ball."

"No need Doc, just send him home with a huge box of paper clips" Jack said trying to lighten the mood.

The Doctor looked perplexed. Jack raised his hand "never mind"

Mac got up off the table "so, no field work for a month or so right?"

"That is correct" said the doctor.

"What about Jack" Mac said as he pointed at his partner.

Jack looked up surprised "what about me? I didn't do anything."

Doctor Wexford picked up Jacks file and thumbed through it. "Mr. Dalton did you lose consciousness at any point after the blow to the head?"

"No" Jack said defensively.

"Any dizziness, blurred vision, nausea?" The doctor continued.

Jack looked smug "nope"

Doctor Wexford looked skeptical and pulled a pen light from his front pocket. He placed a hand on Jacks forehead and tilted his head back. He shined the light in one eye then the next. He turned and made a note in Jacks file. "Well normally I'd order an imPACT test but I see here you've already taken a K-D test. The results were" He scrutinized the report "inconclusive." He looked over the folder at Jack.

Jack was smiling. "I told ya Doc, I'm fine. I'll take these stitches out in a few days and I'll be right as rain."

"Well I'd prefer it if you came into the office for that. In the mean time, no aspirin or anti inflammatories for a few days." He said matter of factly.

Jack put his hands up. "I got it Doc, not my first rodeo if you know what I mean." He looked at Mac and back to the doctor. So, we good here? We've got a debrief to get to in..." He checked his watch "fifteen minutes."

"You're free to go." He nodded at Jack. "If you experience any nausea, dizzy spells or insomnia, come back here and we can run some tests." He turned to Mac. "Mr. MacGyver, if you'll come with me we'll get that immobilization brace fitted."

Jack grimaced. He felt bad for Mac. Immobilization and MacGyver just did not go together. "Hey man, I'll wait out front for ya."

Mac sighed. "See you in a few."

Ten minutes later Mac walked out. Jack stood up taking in the Velcro bands and strap adorning his shoulder, chest and wrist. "Well that'll definitely keep your shoulder still."

Mac looked down at the brace. His displeasure evident. "Yeah, well... let's just get to the debrief and get it over with so we can get outa here."

"I'm with ya there, just have to make a stop after the debrief. Matty sent me a text" He held up his phone wiggling it from side to side. "Wants to see me. About what, I have no idea."

To be continued...

 **I would love some constructive criticism and or suggestions. As I said at the beginning, this is just a personal challenge to see if I could write legit conversations, actions etc. I know I'm not there yet based on all the other great stories I've been reading and I'm struggling to get there. Probably won't but any help would be much appreciated.**


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: Thank you for the reviews. As usual, a big thanks to Dlwells51 for giving me a hand with this. I actually wrote this chapter first just messing around for practice with different styles. Using italics for flash backs and inner thoughts. Sorry, no Mac in this chapter but I promise he's definitely in the next. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I own nothing having to do with the show. Still bummed about it too.

Chapter 3

Jack woke up before his alarm went off. He reached over to the nightstand and turned the light on. He lay there for a few minutes listening to the familiar early morning sounds. He thought about skipping his run this morning but he had a problem to solve and running usually helped.

He sat up ignoring the aches and pains he'd become accustomed to. _Getting_ _old sucks,_ he thought to himself. He mindlessly went about his morning routine. He'd done the same thing so many times he usually didn't even turn on the lights in the rest of the house. His morning ministrations done he headed out to the front porch, sat on the step and adjusted the ankle holster before putting his running shoes on.

It had rained the night before and the air smelled crisp and clean. He smiled to himself thinking back to what started this routine in the first place.

 _Growing up at Lackland Air Force Base there wasn't a lot to do for a young kid without getting into some trouble. Jack found that out the hard way. Seems the Air Force frowns upon the use of potato guns on their airfields._

 _After a serious tongue lashing from his father, Jack Sr. took Jack Jr. to the office of the Air Base Wing Commander. Jack was terrified. Walter C. Howe was an imposing figure. Not to mention the fact that Jack Sr. was standing right behind twelve year old Jack._

 _To this day Jack swears he could hear his knees knocking together when he stood in front of Colonel Howe. Unbeknownst to Jack Jr., senior had talked to Colonel Howe and together they came up with his punishment._

Jack could remember the conversation like it was yesterday.

 _"Mister Dalton! You seem to be so inclined to treat my Air Base as your own personal playground. I think you would appreciate it so much more if you were allowed to see every inch of my fine base up close and personal. Don't you agree?" Senior nudged Jack in the shoulder. Jack looked up at Colonel Howe. "Um, yes... sir?"_

 _Colonel Howe moved to sit behind a massive Mahogany desk "Your father informs me that you're doing fine in school. So, Mister Dalton, you are hereby ordered to report to MTI Boren for morning P.T. every morning for the next month. I will be checking in periodically with your father to ensure your grades do not suffer."_

 _There, Jack thought. There's my out. If I do bad in school, I'm out of PT. Of course Walter C. Howe did not make Colonel without understanding the human psyche. He stood up, placed his hands on his desk and leaned over to look Jack straight in the eyes. "Don't think for one second you can get out of this by dropping your grades. If I see so much as a single grade drop I will come up with something far worse than a little running" He stood to his full height. "Do you understand me Mr. Dalton!" Jack swallowed hard. He looked up at Colonel Howe, stood up straight shoulders back and said "yes sir!"_

 _The next morning at a zero four thirty Jack Jr. became the youngest unofficial recruit MTI Boren ever had the pleasure of 'motivating' into running five miles._

After Jack's month long sentence was complete, he just continued to show up for PT. It had became part of his morning routine and barring injury or missions, he stuck to it throughout his career.

This morning was no exception. He didn't always make five miles. As he'd gotten older he had learned to pay attention to what his body was telling him. Although it went against all those years of training, some days he listened. He could tune out the pain and run fifty miles if it was a matter of life and death, but for a regular run, no sense in pulling a muscle out of sheer stubbornness.

This particular morning was different though. It wasn't a life or death situation in the true sense but it did have consequences. Running helped him clear his head. And right now he had a whopper of a problem to solve.

 _Jack walked into the war room as directed and found Matty waiting for him. "What's up, you wanted to see me?"_

 _"Have a seat Jack" He sat on the corner of the couch, his brows knitted. Matty took a deep breath seeming to need to get her thoughts in order before proceeding. "I want you to teach Bozer how to protect himself"_

 _"Mac's been working with Bozer and from what I hear he's doing alright" He responded tilting his head ever so slightly._

 _Matty stepped closer to Jack. "I'm not talking about hand to hand Jack, I mean I want you to teach him how to use a gun." She said seriously._

 _Jack stood up abruptly "you want me to what? Why!?" He started to pace around the room. He smiled, pausing his steps. "This is Bozer we're talking about here. Bozer, the guy that scoops earthworms off the sidewalk and puts them back in the grass so they don suffer... Bozer"_

 _"Yes Jack, Bozer." She deadpanned in return._

 _"I want you" She pointed at him "to teach Bozer how to use a gun."_

 _Jack rubbed the back of his neck and stepped to face Matty. "Why? Bozer isn't ready for the field and I doubt he ever will be. At least not for anything serious." He moved to sit back down on the edge of the couch._

 _Matty folded her arms and cocked her head to the side "Bozer approached me and asked if he could get, and I quote 'training on how to shoot real guns with real bullets.' "_

 _He dipped his chin, eyebrows raised "Why'd he ask you? I mean if he wanted to learn well... he could have asked me, I'd have turned him down...but why'd he ask you?"_

 _"Maybe, he asked me, because I am the boss" She said matter of factly. "The way he put it was 'if someone like Murdoc showed up again he wanted to be prepared.' "I told him he didn't need to worry, and I didn't think he was ready."_

 _"He's not!" Jack agreed heartily._

 _"I know that, and you know that, but If he wants to learn, why not learn from one of the best."_

 _Jack studied the floor for a second he looked back at Matty "Well thank you... Matty, but why not have one of the other guys teach him?" He raised his arm to point towards the hall "We've got people here that, well, that's their job. Let them teach him."_

 _"I know exactly who does what around here Jack. And no, they are not going to teach Bozer." She leaned forward and looked him in the eye. "You are, your partner is out of the field for a while, so you have the time. End of discussion."_

Jack kept running. He had no idea what he was going to tell Mac.

Jack understood and accepted Mac's choice not to use a gun a long time ago. But, Bozer was Mac's best friend. Bozer was supposed to be the guy in the lab. He was supposed to be Mac's version of Q. Making all the cool disguises. Safely tucked away in the lab. If Bozer was worried about another assassin showing up, learning how to use a gun wasn't going to fix that.

Jack stopped running. He looked at his watch. He'd been running for two hours straight. The sun was peeking over the horizon. He hadn't run that far in a long time.

He turned and started back towards his house setting his pace to a slow jog. _If_ _I'm_ _gonna_ _be_ _sore_ , _might_ _as_ _well_ _earn_ _it_. He thought.

By the time he showered, changed and reached Phoenix he had come up with a plan. After clearing security he headed towards Matty's office.

Andie was at her desk typing when she saw him approaching. She smiled "Hey Jack, she's not in."

Jack looked through the glass walls and could see Matty at her desk. "Oh, ok, thanks Andie. I'll just tell her I stopped by" he winked and reached for the door.

Matty looked up and glared at Jack. "Dalton, I know you were probably raised in a barn but most people knock before they come barging in uninvited. What do you want? I'm busy."

He stood just inside the door. "Ok, fine. I'll teach Bozer. On one condition... You have to tell Mac."

She crinkled her brow. "Sure, no problem. Is that it?"

Jack didn't think it was going to be that easy and was getting uncomfortable. He turned to leave. "Yeah, that's it" he said looking over his shoulder. He shook his head. He'd never be able to figure her out. He had gone in there ready for a fight.

As he exited the office he looked at Andie and thumbed over his shoulder leaning forward and lowering his voice. "Is she ok? She sick or something?"

Andie was confused by his questioning and glanced in her boss' direction. "No... she's fine... Why?"

Standing tall he waved a hand "never mind" he turned and headed down the hall towards the elevator... He needed to stop by the armory.

To be continued...

Let me know if this works. I've got quite a few chapters written, just have to give them a once over before posting. Oh, and figure out how this whole thing is gonna end. It just keeps getting longer. Sorry Riley fans, she doesn't make an appearance for a while.


	4. Chapter 4

A/N: Thanks for the reviews. As always, thanks to Dlwells51 you rock! Also, helloyesimhere. Thanks for the advice!

Disclaimer: Don't own anything having to do with the show. If I did, I'd keep Jack all to my self... Sorry.

Chapter 4

Mac woke up early after a long night of tossing and turning. Having his shoulder immobilized made sleeping next to impossible. Every time he moved, a sharp pain would wake him up.

Hearing Bozer in the kitchen, he levered himself out of bed with a grunt. Not being able to use one arm made it difficult to sit up. Mac hated not being able to do things at a normal speed. Everything took longer. Removing the cap from the toothpaste. Showering, getting dressed without aggravating his shoulder. Getting back into the brace and lastly tying his shoes. It was extremely aggravating.

By the time he made it to the kitchen, Bozer was no where to be found.

Mac spotted a note on the counter held down by a small rubber duck.

 _Mac,_

 _Went to work, be back late._

 _Smoothies in the fridge._

 _Get some rest._

 _B_

Mac sighed. He went to the fridge and grabbed a smoothie. Sniffing the green concoction, he decided it didn't smell too bad.

Mac carried the smoothie out to the back porch and sat down. It wasn't often that he didn't have anything to do in the mornings.

Normally he'd be out for a run if he didn't have to go to work. Or he and Bozer would just sit and talk. Actually, Bozer would do most of the talking and Mac would listen.

Mac checked his phone. No messages. He hadn't heard from Jack since Jack had dropped him off yesterday after the debrief. It wasn't like him not to check in, especially if one of them was out of commission.

Now that Mac thought about it, their drive home from Phoenix _had_ been rather quiet. At the time, Mac was grateful the older man didn't talk his ear off. Giving him all sorts of advice about what he should do with his time off. But, a silent Jack, was not a normal Jack.

Mac wondered if Jack had lied to the doctor about his head. It wouldn't be the first time but Jack had seemed normal enough. He laughed to himself. As _if Jack could ever be considered normal_...

Mac picked up his phone to text Jack when a new message came in. It was a text from Matty. All he saw was _'FYI_ _Jack_ _is_... His heart raced and in a split second all manner of things ran through his head. _Why_ _hadn't_ _he_ _heard_ _from_ _Jack_. _What_ _happened?, What_ went _wrong_? He opened the text.

 _'F.Y.I. Jack is starting weapons training with Bozer.'_

 _Matty_

He read and reread the message. 'What the hell?' He said as he got up to go back in the house. Here he thought Jack was in trouble and now he's going to teach Bozer how to use a gun!? Mac hit the speed dial for Jack, shouldering his phone as he grabbed his keys.

Mac listened to the incessant ringing, until it went to voicemail. _'Yo! What's up? Leave a message!'_

Mac didn't want to leave a message. He wanted to know what the hell was going on. After a few seconds of dead air all he said was; ' _Give me a call... Now!, I'm on my_ _way to the office. We need to talk.'_

Minutes later, he was speeding purposefully on his usual route toward the foundation. Trying to drive with one hand and dial the phone wasn't going to work. _No_ _sense in getting in a wreck_ he thought. Mac pulled off to the side of the road and dialed Bozer. It went straight to voicemail. _'You've_ _reached_ _Bozer_. _Can't answer now, I'm out on_ _the_ set. _If_ _this_ _is_ _Spielberg...'_ Mac hit end before the greeting finished. Tossing his phone back on the dash, he pulled back into traffic and continued toward Phoenix.

 _Why hadn't Jack told him he was going to train Bozer? It just didn't make sense. What right did he have teaching Bozer how to shoot. Bozer was supposed to stay safe in the lab._

Jack pushed the button to retrieve the target. As it got closer he could see 15 blue tinged holes in the cardboard silhouette. He was pleased the training pistol was accurate. He _wasn't_ pleased about the reason why he was at the range sighting in training pistols.

The range master walked up behind Jack inspecting his target. "Planning on shooting 'sims' for protection Jack?"

Jack smiled and removed his ear plugs. He ejected the empty clip and locked the slide open on the pistol before he turned to talk to his friend. "Hey Wayne, just checking it out. Got a newbie to train and wanted to make sure these things are accurate." He said holding the pistol up.

"Got a few more to try out with the sims then I'll be outa here."

Wayne smiled and turned to leave. "Sounds good, have fun. Nice group by the way."

"Thanks man." Jack turned back to the range. He pulled the used target out of the clips and wrote the date, distance and the pistol he'd used. He added it to the stack of used targets. Jack picked up a new target attached it to the clips and pushed the button to send it down range. He was putting his ear plugs back in when he heard his phone beep.

Picking up his phone, he saw he had a new voice mail. He checked his missed calls and saw the message was from Mac. Worried, he played the message back. His heart sank.

Shaking his head, he dialed Mac's number.

Mac was lost in thought when his phone buzzed. Without thinking he moved to reach for it with his right hand.

He was instantly reminded of his injured shoulder. "Son of a... Dammit!" Concentrating on the road, he sat up to get a look at his phone on the dash. He saw Jack's picture on the screen.

He was on the freeway now and there wasn't time to pull to the side of the road. Mac briefly thought about making a grab for the phone with his left but it wasn't one of his better ideas.

The longer the phone buzzed, the angrier he got. Finally, the phone stopped. He had another ten minutes to go before he reached Phoenix.

Mac was furious at himself for not keeping his phone closer. _That was stupid. Should have thought about that before I pulled out. But, if Jack would have answered his damn phone the first time I_ _called... Stop it. Mac, It's not Jacks fault you threw your phone on the dash... Great, now you're arguing with yourself_. Mac shook his head. He sat up a little straighter and concentrated on driving, trying to stop his inner voice.

Jack listened to the phone ring. Finally he got Mac's voicemail. _'This is Mac, leave a message.'_

 _"Hey, it's me. I'm at the range, I'll meet you up front."_

Mac had said he was coming in. Jack looked at the call log. That was fifteen minutes ago. Grabbing his gear bag, he started to put the pistols and ammunition away. Once packed, Jack headed for the front entrance. _If Mac is coming in, might as well head him off at the pass_.

As he got off the elevator and rounded the corner, he saw Bozer. Jack set his jaw and stalked towards Bozer.

Bozer saw Jack at about the same time... Jack did not look pleased. Bozer immediately turned, inspecting the area behind him hoping the look on Jack's face was aimed at someone else. He realized there was no one there.

Bozer didn't want any part of whatever Jack had in mind. He ducked his head and started a brisk walk in the opposite direction, not caring where he was going as long as it wasn't in Jack's direction.

He felt a crushing grip on his arm and was spun around to come face to face with one very scary, very angry, Jack Dalton. "H... hey Jack. What's up... buddy?" He said nervously.

"Don't buddy me Bozer. Mac's coming in and he's pissed. You're coming with me." Jack said through clenched teeth, turning down the hallway dragging Bozer behind him like a rag doll.

"Bro, I... what's he pissed about? And, why do I have to come along?" Bozer tried to stop. Pointing back the way they had come, trying to get free of Jacks grip. "I've got some molds I really need to get to and some other important stuff so... If you'll just let go."

Jack kept his grip on Bozer and continued to march down the hall towards the entrance. "No way dude! You want to learn how to shoot, you gotta take a little fire first." He said with a less than friendly grin.

Realization crossed Bozer's face. "What?... but I didn't... I asked Matty."

Jack ground to a sudden stop, locking Bozer's eyes with a fierce glare. "Yeah? And _she_ ordered _me_ , to teach you! _And,_ she was _supposed_ to tell Mac! Looks like she did!" He said, jerking his head towards the security entrance.

Mac had just cleared security when he looked up he saw a very serious looking Jack and a very scared looking Bozer. Jaw set, he headed straight for the pair. "You two have some explaining to do, come on." He kept walking past them towards the elevator.

It was a silent, uncomfortably tense ride to the third floor. Once the doors opened Mac headed for the war room. Jack and Bozer followed. Jack was still seething. He didn't want to have anything to do with this in the first place. Bozer timidly followed.

The trio entered the room, Mac shut the door and frosted the glass. Turning, his glare shooting rapidly between his two friends.

Jack was standing feet apart arms folded. Ready for the fight. Bozer, had sat down on the edge of the couch.

Settling finally on Jack, Mac practically growled. "What the hell were you thinking?"

Jack raised his hand. "Now wait a minute Mac, I didn't want anything to do with this." He turned and glared at Bozer. "Matty ordered me to teach him. She was supposed to tell you."

"Oh she told me alright!" Mac said while trying to pull his phone from his back pocket. Grimacing when he felt a slight pull in his shoulder from the motion. He got his phone out.

"F.Y.I. Jack is starting weapons training with Bozer." He read the message and turned the phone so Jack could see the screen.

"Damn her, I knew it was too easy." Jack said under his breath.

"What was that Jack?"

"Nothin Man... Look, Matty pulled me in yesterday after the debrief and told me I had to teach Bozer how to shoot." He said matter of factly. "I told her it was a bad idea but she ordered me to. She said Bozer asked her."

Both men turned to look at Bozer. His shoulders slumped and he gazed up at his two friends. Mac's eyebrows raised expectantly. "Bozer?"

He smiled. "Mac, I just thought I could learn to shoot. You know just in case?" He said sheepishly. "I didn't know Matty was going to order Jack to teach me." He raised his hands. "No offense Jack, but you scare me a little."

"But why Boze?" Mac asked.

Bozer looked confused "Why does Jack scare me?"

The corner of Mac's mouth twitched up. "No, Boze, why do you want to learn how to use a gun?"

Bozer looked down and started to pick at some imaginary fuzz on the couch, then his hands began gesturing dramatically supplying appropriate punctuation, as he explained. "Well, between having a psycho assassin come into the house and try to kill us, and Riley being kidnapped by the fake 'zodiac.' Plus," he looked up. "Not knowing if the 'organization' will come after you, I just figured I could maybe help a little... You know, Just in case."

He pointed towards Mac "I mean you're hurt. I can do a lot of things Mac, but I can't make a bottle rocket gun or grenades or anything."

"Bozer I'm touched, really. But you should have come to me first." Mac said. "Or, you should have asked Jack."

Jack leaned to the side towards Mac. "I would have turned him down," he assured helpfully under his breath.

"Mac, I didn't ask you because I know you don't like guns. And I didn't ask Jack because well," he paused and raised his hands again waving them weakly, "no offense bro, but you're a little off and you can be kinda scary."

Mac smiled. Jack glared at Bozer. "Well I would have turned you down anyway," he said defensively.

Mac moved to squat down in front of Bozer. "Look, I understand why you would want to learn to protect yourself but," he looked over his shoulder at Jack then back to Bozer. "Shooting someone is a serious thing and I just, no offense," he stressed kindly, "don't think you've got it in you Boze."

"No offense seems to be the phrase of the day." Jack mumbled.

"I don't want to shoot anybody." Bozer assured them adamantly, "I just want to make sure if you're laid up or if you're out on some mission somewhere and another crazy assassin comes to the house... maybe I could scare them away."

Jacks eyebrows shot up. "Scare them away? Seriously dude?"

Mac glared at Jack and put his hand up effectively stopping what he was sure would probably turn into a long-winded Jack rant. "Boze, the chances of you, heck even Jack scaring an assassin away just by having a gun isn't really very realistic."

Jack crossed his arms. "I don't know Mac, once when I was in..." Mac stopped him with a look and took a calming breath. "My point is, if you want to learn how to use a gun for protection you have to be willing to use it for what it's intended... to kill."

Bozer sighed, "I guess I never thought about it like that." Mac smiled "I know buddy." He gave his friend's knee a reassuring gentle squeeze, then stood up and walked towards Jack. Jack shot a relieved wink at Mac.

Mac, satisfied he'd talked some sense into Bozer turned back to his friend and was about to say something else when Bozer stood up. "Could you at least show me how to shoot though? You know, just in case something does happen and there are guns?"

Mac opened his mouth to speak but nothing came to mind. Jack looked at Mac and shook his head. He stepped towards Bozer. "Fine, you want to learn to shoot? I'll show you how to shoot. In fact," he reached out and wrapped his arm around Bozer's shoulder pulling him into his version of a friendly headlock. "I'll show you what to do for those 'just in case' moments you keep worrying about."

Bozer's startled wide eyes stared at Mac, looking less than comfortable in his sudden imprisonment at Jack's side. Mac just rolled his eyes and shook his head. _Bozer had no idea what he was in for._

To be continued...

I had a lot of fun writing this chapter. I'm finding that when I try to write, my mood kind of infiltrates the theme. Kind of like going to the grocery store hungry I guess. Anyways, hope you enjoyed. Happy St. Patty's Day! If there's any glaring errors in this, I blame the green beer.


	5. Chapter 5

A/N: Thanks to everyone that reviewed. To the guest reviewer, I did get your original review. FF takes a while to post every now and then. Thanks as usual to Dlwells51.

This chapter picks up right where 4 left off. Looking at this now, I think I should have found a better chapter break between 4 and 5. Oh well, hope you enjoy.

Disclaimer: I still don't own anything having to do with the show.

Chapter 5

Bozer had never been more relieved when his phone buzzed. He'd been requested back at the lab.

He started toward the door of the war room turning towards his friends, lightly stepping backwards towards the exit. "Sorry guys, duty calls, my face is stuck, gotta go." He backed into the door jamb startled then disappeared out the door.

Jack walked over and touched the glass. It only took a second for the walls to become clear but by the time they did, Bozer was no where to be seen. "What'd he do, run down the hall?" Jack asked.

"I wouldn't doubt it." Mac turned and sat down in the chair that had been so hastily vacated by Bozer. "So, where are you going to start?"

Jack rubbed the back of his neck. "Dude, I have no idea. Does he even know _anything_ about handguns?"

Mac shook his head and smiled. "Not unless you count water pistols at the fair. He's a dead shot clown killer."

Jack glared. "Oh. Well, that's just great."

"Rifle?" Jack asked desperately.

Mac laughed. "Super soaker when we were kids."

Making his way to the couch, Jack plopped down letting his head fall back on the cushion. "Man, this is gonna suck."

"Come on Jack. You've armed and taught entire villages of people to shoot and they didn't even speak English."

"Yeah but that was different. Most of 'em had already used old single shot rifles and were pretty darn accurate with 'em. The hardest thing I had to do was show 'em how to clean the new rifles, load 'em and what the difference between semi and full auto was."

Jack looked pleadingly at Mac. "Don't suppose you wanna give me a hand."

Mac started to shrug his shoulders and stopped himself. "Sure, what'd you have in mind?"

Jack leaned forward his hands came up fists clenched. "You can keep me from killing him."

Mac laughed as he stood up. "Come on, let's get outa here. You can give me a ride home."

Confused, Jack stood and bent over to grab his gear bag. "How'd you get here?"

Mac raised his left hand jingling his keys. "Drove the Jeep. Driving with one hand sucks."

Jack grinned, "I'll bet. You got beer at the house or do we need to stop.?"

"Yeah, there's some of that Sculpin and Blue Moon left. We can order pizza and figure out what to do with Boze."

Jack winked. "Sounds like a plan brother. But hey, why don't you hang here for a few." He held up the gear bag. "I'm gonna go drop some of this stuff off and I'll be right back."

Mac looked back towards the inviting chair. "Yeah ok, sounds good."

Alone in the war room Mac sat down in the nearest chair. His shoulder had gone from a dull ache to a throbbing pain timed to the beat of his heart. He lay his head back and concentrated on trying to completely relax every muscle in order to get the pain to a manageable level.

He tried picturing himself floating in a warm pool of water which would have worked for most people. Mac was not most people.

His vision changed from one of tranquility to wondering how well he could float with his arm strapped to his side. Calculating the buoyancy of the neoprene brace and factoring in water density, fresh versus salt water. Salt water would be a better choice but not all oceans were the same.

He started thinking of the different oceans and their salinity levels. The higher salinity the better buoyancy. But, there were lakes that had more salinity than the ocean. He began categorizing the lakes. Don Juan Pond in Antarctica was too cold, Great salt Lake in Utah could work depending on the time of year, there was Lake Assad in... He was startled out of his thoughts.

Matty had walked in the war room not expecting anyone to be in there. When she saw it was Mac, she was surprised and a bit perturbed. He was supposed to be at home resting.

"Ahem!" Mac opened his eyes to discover Matty's piercing glare just a couple feet from him and he had to say at eye level it was even more forceful.

"What the hell, are you doing here Blondie?" Mac sat up abruptly. She waved a hand, "Never mind, I don't want to hear it." Effectively stopping any explanation Mac was scrambling to come up with before it could fall out of his slack mouth.

"Hand over your keys! Johns will be driving you home and if you give him any trouble you'll have more than that brace to deal with, got it!"

He swallowed reflexively and his fingers dug into his jeans for his keyring before he could think of a reason not to obey and wondering how she knew he drove there. "Um... Jack's supposed to give me a ride."

"Dalton? Where the hell is he at?" She said looking toward the hallway.

She set her phone down and worked on his key ring with her small hands efficiently. When she was finished she held up his jeep key & remote as she set his house key on the table.

Mac stood up reaching down to grab his house key. "He had to drop off some stuff and should be back any minute." He started toward the door turning as he got closer to the threshold continuing backwards he thumbed over his shoulder. "I'm gonna just go meet him at the elevator. "

"Seriously Mac, you look like shit! Go home, take something and go to bed." She dangled his car keys." You shouldn't be driving. I'll just hang on to these, keep your jeep safe for you. Maybe have it detailed. Maybe have it repainted... pink camo sounds fun, what do you think?" She asked with a dangerous smile.

He was in escape mode. All he wanted to do was get out of the office and away from the intense scrutiny of his boss. "Um, thanks Matty. I'm just gonna..." He tilted his head toward the hallway and left.

Matty picked up her phone and sent a quick text. 'Get your ass up here and take the kid home! Now!'

Jack rounded the corner and saw Mac coming towards him. "Dude, what are you..." he stopped mid sentence. Mac was waving at him to go back the way he came. Jack stopped confused. Mac looked over his shoulder towards the war room to make sure Matty wasn't following and quickened his pace.

Jack's phone buzzed. He checked the message and realization hit him. He spun around and headed for the elevator letting Mac catch up.

As they waited for the elevator, Jack studied his partner. Mac looked tired. Jack hadn't noticed earlier while they were in the war room. _Probably because both of their emotions were running a little hot at the time._ he thought. "Hey, how's the shoulder?"

Mac was lost in thought and it took a second for him to realize Jack had asked him a question. "What? Sorry, I was thinking." He waved his hand.

Jack feigned surprise. "I'm shocked." His gaze turned to concern. "I said, how's the shoulder? You hear from the doc yet?"

They stepped in the elevator. Mac pushed the ground floor button. "No, nothing yet but he said it'd be a few days before the MRI results were back."

"You taking the pain pills he prescribed? Cuz you look like crap dude."

The elevator doors opened. Mac stepped out first. "No, I didn't take the ones he gave me, my dreams get really bizarre on that stuff. Overactive imagination and all." He admitted.

"You get any sleep last night?" Jack asked concerned.

"A little, kept waking myself up every time I moved. I took some aspirin this morning, it helped a little." He said as they exited the building.

"Why didn't you say something yesterday? We could have asked for something else besides... aspirin." Jack said accusingly. He turned to go back to the building. "Let's just go see him now, he can write you a different prescription."

Mac put a hand on Jack's shoulder stopping him from going back. "Come on, let's just head home. If the aspirin doesn't work tonight, I'll ask him tomorrow. Alright?"

"Yeah, ok, but if you don't I will." Jack put a hand to his back and feigned a limp. "But, hey, don't throw away the good stuff I might need it later." He grinned returning to his normal gate.

Mac rolled his eyes. "How far did you run?"

Jack's hand returned to his back and he faked a limp again. "Too far brother... too damn far."

Bozer had spent the rest of the day fixing his face molds and later video chatting with Riley. By the time he got home it was late. Jacks car was in the driveway. When he entered, he could hear the tv playing the familiar disk menu music of Die Hard three.

He walked softly into the living room. The scene before him looked like something you'd find at a frat house. An open pizza box with a single slice left in it. Wadded up napkins, paper plates, a bottle of aspirin and several empty beer bottles. Mac was asleep sitting up on one end of the couch head tilted back and mouth agape. While Jack was half laying on the other end. One foot on the floor the other precariously balanced on the table between beer bottles.

Bozer couldn't pass up the opportunity. It wasn't often he'd find both men sound asleep and the scene before him had photo op written all over it. He took the picture and sent a text to Riley with the photo attached. _'I work hard all day at the office and come home to find this. What are we gonna do with these kids?'_

Bozer looked up from his phone to see Mac staring at him. Mac gave a slight grimace as he moved to get up from the couch. Bozer took a step forward to help but Mac waved him off.

Mac looked at Jack then back to Bozer signaling him to be quiet with a finger to his lips.

Quietly making his way toward the back door, he motioned for Bozer to follow.

Once they were outside, Mac turned to Bozer. "Hey Boze, you're getting in late, everything ok?"

"Wha... Oh, yeah... yeah. Everything's good, just had a long video chat with Riley tonight at the office. She says hi by the way. Said the eggheads there are having a hard time understanding how she coded the facial recognition thing. I didn't realize how late it had gotten." He waved toward the house. "Looks like you two had fun." He grinned.

Mac smiled. "Yeah, well I think both of us needed the rest." He checked his watch. "Speaking of which. I'm gonna go to bed. Jack and I are going in early tomorrow. He wants to set a few things up for your first day of weapons training."

Bozer looked panic stricken. "Tomorrow?" He cleared his throat gaining his composure "I mean, yeah, tomorrow's cool."

Mac smiled and gave Bozer's shoulder a light pat as he past him headed toward the house. "Good night Boze, sleep good. You've got a big day tomorrow."

Mac hid his smile as he could hear the nervousness in Bozer's voice. "Good night Mac."

Once inside, Mac found the remote and shut the tv off. With no music playing, Jack stirred. Mac walked down the hall to get a blanket for Jack. Bozer had come inside and saw Mac bringing a folded blanket back to the living room.

Not wanting Jack to kick over the beer bottles, Bozer tiptoed to the coffee table quietly picking up one of the bottles near Jacks foot. He reached for the second picking it up with two fingers. The bottles clinked together.

Mac saw everything as if in slow motion. Jacks eyes snapped open his hands came up and he was off the couch like a shot.

Mac dropped the blanket on the couch and quickly stepped forward. "Jack!"

Hearing his name Jack took a stumbling step getting his balance. He saw Mac and realized where he was at. He turned to see Bozer still bent over the coffee table frozen in place eyes wide. Jack put a hand to his head and plopped down on the couch. "Whoa, free ride." He said shaking the cobwebs away.

Bozer finally stood up and with slow deliberate movements headed warily toward the kitchen, giving Jack a wide berth.

Mac reached down to grab the blanket handing it to Jack. "You good?"

Jack inhaled deeply. "Yeah, thanks," he rubbed a hand down his face. "What time is it?" He asked checking his own watch.

The adrenaline from what could have happened wore off as quickly as it had come. "It's late," Mac said tiredly. "I'm gonna go to bed. You staying?"

Jack now fully awake looked at the mess on the coffee table. "Yeah, what time you wanna head in to the office?"

Mac contemplated the current time. "Seven? Gives us a few hours."

"Works for me." He looked at Mac taking in his tired appearance. "Or, we could go in later. It's not like we actually _have_ to be there. Matty didn't give me a time frame to turn Bozer into Wyatt Earp so..." He shrugged. "I think we've got a good plan in place." He grinned. "Go get some sleep, Mac, you look like crap."

They both turned to see Bozer come in. When he saw his two friends looking in his direction he practically sprint towards his bedroom.

Mac chuckled. "You know, you scared the crap out of him. I wouldn't be surprised if he called this whole thing off."

Jack grinned. "Wish he would man. Now, why don't you go crash for a while."

"Alright, g'night Jack." Mac turned and shuffled down the hall.

"See you in the morning Mac."

Jack leaned back on the couch taking a moment to let his body relax completely. He knew there wasn't any chance of going back to sleep. He thought about his young partner. Jack wished there was something he could do to make Mac more comfortable so he could get some sleep. But, short of sneaking his pain meds in his drink or something there wasn't anything he could do.

Placing his hands on his knees he levered himself up off the couch with a groan. He reached for the aspirin, shaking out two pills and popped them in his mouth. He picked up a half empty beer bottle. Inspecting the contents, he shrugged his shoulders and washed down the pills. _That run is gonna kill me,_ he thought. Stretching his arms out and cracking his neck. _Might as well get this mess cleaned up._

To be continued...

Hope you enjoyed this chapter. Coming soon, the doctor's visit and a mission of sorts. Sorry, Riley fans, she's not back yet, she will be. Honestly, I'm having a hard time with her. When she does arrive, she's not cooperating. All I can make her do right now is type. I'm working on it.


	6. Chapter 6

A/N: Thanks a bunch for the reviews. I have to admit, it's fun getting them. As always, thank you Dlwells51 and everyone that has given me advice. It's much appreciated.

Disclaimer: I don't own anything having to do with the show.

Chapter 6

Jack sat in the chair on the back deck watching the sun rise. It wasn't often he just sat with no real purpose other than to enjoy the view. Out of practiced habit, his breathing slowed and his body completely relaxed. To the outsider he would have looked like a statue. He could feel his heart beat. A slow steady rhythm.

In the distance, just below a tall palm tree he could see a person walk out to their car. Jack studied the figure. _This guy has no idea what a dangerous place the world is._ He thought. _850 meters,_ he glanced at the leaves of a near by tree and the palm tree above the man without moving a muscle. _Wind nominal then right to left at five. Adjust one. Elevation down adjust two. Hold center mass._ He closed his eyes feeling his heart beat. In tune with his pulse, eyes open, lub-dub... lub-dub... lub - _slight_ _trigger pull_ \- dub... lub - _send it_ \- dub.

Jack closed his eyes. He had gone through the same routine tens of thousands of times. Live targets, paper targets and imaginary targets. _Less than a second,_ he thought. _It would have taken less than a second for the round to hit it's mark and the man that was just going about his day would be dead._ The man put a travel mug on the roof of the car, paused and then returned to the house. _Probably forgot something._ Jack thought.

Senses heightened, Jack felt someone watching him from behind. He remained seated and unmoving. After a few seconds he heard footsteps approaching.

"Morning Boze." He grinned when he heard Bozer squeal like a girl.

Getting his composure back, Bozer sat down on the edge of the fire pit facing Jack "Damn, Jack! You scared the crap outa me man. I thought you were asleep... or dead." He grinned slightly.

"Nah, just taking in the morning s'all." You talk to Riley lately?

Bozer panicked for a second. He wondered if Jack knew about the picture he sent. "Yeah, we talked a little last night... Before, I got home."

"Oh yeah? How's she doing with all the geeks?"

Bozer was still nervous. Jack hadn't mentioned the picture but Bozer couldn't tell if Jack knew or not. "She's a little frustrated but she thinks they're just about done. Said she might come home tomorrow depending on how today goes."

Out of the corner of his eye, Bozer caught movement in the house. "Mac's up." He said getting up to go see his friend and using that as an excuse to get away from Jack's scrutiny.

Mac didn't stay inside though. He saw his friends and came out to the back porch to join them. "Morning Boze, Jack."

"Morning Mac," they said in unison.

Mac sat down in the chair next to Jack which left Bozer the only one standing.

"I'm gonna go inside and make some waffles," he said as he hastily left.

Jack shook his head and smiled. "That kid is wound tighter than a drum. He won't look me in the eye for more than a second. Something's up with him."

One side of Mac's mouth turned up. "He's just nervous around you Jack. Especially now since you agreed to train him."

Jacks brow furrowed "I didn't agree to anything." He said somberly. "I was ordered... Remember."

"You get much sleep?" Jack asked quickly changing the subject.

"A little, not much though." Mac admitted

"I'm sorry man, that's gotta suck." Jack gazed at the fire pit. "We're going by the doc's office first thing this morning _and_ you are getting a different prescription even if I have to write it myself."

Mac let out a snort "Wouldn't work, your handwriting's too good to be a doctor."

Jack gave a forced smile. "You haven't seen me write lefty." Holding his left hand up wriggling his fingers and turning his gaze to the tall palm tree. The man's car was gone.

Mac looked out over the back wall trying to follow Jacks line of sight. "How many this morning?" He said knowingly.

Jack continued to stare out over the back wall. "Just the one, think he was probably going to work."

Mac had known Jack for a long time. He had first hand knowledge of what Jack was capable of with a rifle. Jack had shared a good portion of his history but there were still parts of Jacks past and missions that Jack would never talk about. He didn't have to. Mac knew what it was like.

A skill that took less than a second to perform but practiced for hundreds of hours was hard to turn off. A snip of a wire, a pull of the trigger. It was the same. A split second of movement that could take life or save a life.

He was brought out of his thoughts by Bozer coming back out to the deck holding Macs phone. "Hey Mac! Your phone's going off, screen says Doctor Wexford.

At the mention of the doctor, Jack sat up straighter in the chair looking at Mac.

Bozer handed Mac his phone.

"Hello?"

 _Mr. MacGyver?_

"Yes?"

 _This is Doctor Wexfords office. The Doctor would like you to come in this morning. Will you be able to be here around ten?_

"Um, yeah, did he get the MRI results?"

 _"I'm sorry sir, you'll have to talk to Doctor Wexford when you see him this morning."_

Mac looked at his watch. Three hours to go before he found out anything.

"Ok, I'll be there. Thanks." The call ended he looked up to find both of his friends staring at him expectantly.

"Won't know until ten. That's when I have to be there."

"Why couldn't they just tell you over the phone?" Jack asked.

Bozer nodded his head in agreement.

Mac shook his head. "I don't know, it was his secretary that called."

Bozer checked his watch, "well, I'm gonna go get breakfast finished." He pointed at Jack. "I know you're good for a couple waffles." He turned to Mac who had sat back down. "Mac how many do you want?"

Mac waved him off. "I'm good Boze, I'm not that hungry right now."

Jack turned in his chair looking over his shoulder at Bozer. "He'll have at least one but make him two anyways."

Mac looked up at Jack with a glare. Jack turned back to face Mac. "Dude, you _are_ going to eat something." Mac slouched with a huff and held his glare.

Jack started to laugh... Something Mac was not expecting.

"Mac, I swear you can be such a little kid sometimes. Do I have to tell you to go brush your teeth too?"

Mac straightened and stood up. "Well, if it's ok with you, I'm going to go grab a shower and, I promise to brush my teeth too... Dad." He said sarcastically.

As he walked into the house he heard Jack yell, "don't forget to wash behind your ears... Son!"

When they reached Phoenix, Mac concentrated on controlling the nervousness that was slowly creeping up on him. He and Jack had already talked about the weather, Jack had talked about the Cowboys potential draft picks and who he wanted and hoped to get for his fantasy team picks on the drive over. With nothing left to talk about, the silence only made things worse.

They were half way to the doctors office when Jack's phone buzzed. His brow furrowed. He wasn't expecting any calls. He checked his phone and read the message.

Mac could tell it wasn't a message Jack wanted to see. "What's up?"

Jack put his phone in his back pocket. "Matty wants to see me in the war room."

"She say what for?"

"Nope." He looked at his phone inspecting it. "I swear, Matty put a tracker or something in this thing."

"When do you have to be there?"

"Doesn't matter, she can wait. We've got a doctor's appointment."

Mac was surprised by Jacks attitude. He usually didn't ignore a summons from Matty. "Well, technically, I'm the one with the appointment but I appreciate the support."

Jack winked at Mac. "That's what I'm here for brother." His phone buzzed again.

With a growl, he yanked it out of his pocket and checked the message. "Dammit!"

"What is it?" Mac asked concerned.

He held his phone up for Mac to see Matty's message. _Dalton I know you're in the building, get your ass up here now!_

Standing outside the doctor's office, Mac saw the concern on Jack's face. "Jack, you better get up there. Sounds urgent."

Jack looked down at his phone then back at Mac, concern in his eyes. "Yeah... yeah I know. Just... Lemme know what the doctor says alright?"

Mac put a hand on Jack's shoulder giving him a friendly shove down the hall. "You'll be the first to know, now get going, I'll be fine."

Mac watched Jack walk down the hall. Jack turned walking backwards looking at Mac. He smiled, and shrugged his shoulders spreading his arms wide. "What's the worst that could happen?" He pointed at Mac. "You got this dude!" Turning, he disappeared around the corner.

Mac opened the door to the doctor's office shaking his head and smiling. _Jack is something else. Definitely beats to his own drum_. He thought.

"Bro! You're almost late." Bozer said as he put a magazine down and stood to greet Mac.

"Hey Boze what are you doing here?" Mac said surprised.

Eyebrow raised he tilted his head. "You're my best friend." He said as if that was explanation enough.

Bozer looked expectantly at the door and was confused. "Where's Jack?"

"He's got a meeting with Matty. I don't know what it's about."

Macs phone buzzed. He had figured out that the velcro brace was useful as a storage space for his phone. Pulling it out, seeing it was a message from Matty. _Finally I'm going to find out what's going on_. He thought.

He opened the text. _Hey Blondie. Good luck hope the MRI is clear. ~M~_

Mac sighed. "She wished me good luck" He said disappointed.

Bozer was confused. "Um, that's a good thing right?"

Mac was about to answer when Doctor Wexford came out. "Mr. MacGyver, it's good to see you."

"Please, it's just Mac." He said as he stood up.

Dr. Wexford turned "If you'll follow me please... Mac." He said trying the shortened name.

"Ahem" Bozer cleared his throat getting their attention.

Mac looked slightly embarrassed. "Doc, this is my friend Bozer."

The Doctor eyed Bozer suspiciously then looked expectantly at Mac.

Mac understood what the doc was thinking. "It's ok, he works in the lab."

The Doctor satisfied continued down the hall with Mac and Bozer in tow.

"Where's Mr. Dalton? I assumed he'd be here as well or did he take his stitches out himself?"

Mac smiled. "No, Jack hasn't done that yet, but he probably will. He's got a meeting with Mat... the Director."

"Well, if you see him, tell him my services are available if he'd like them removed." He pulled a file out of the rack and opened the door to the exam room, letting Mac and Bozer in before following.

Mac moved to sit in the chair. Dr. Wexford motioned toward the exam table. "Please take a seat on the table Mr... um, Mac."

Mac sat. He couldn't wait any longer. They had done the small talk, got the formalities out of the way. "So, Doc, what's the verdict?"

"Well, let's start with the wrist first." The MRI we did while you were there for your shoulder doesn't show any deficiencies in the wrist so we can get you out of that splint today, but I still want you to take it easy. Shouldn't be hard considering the shoulder injury. He turned and put a series of films up on the light board. Each film had six similar looking images of bone muscle ligaments and tendons in various shades of gray white and black. Mac studied the pictures seeing subtle differences in the depth but couldn't interpret exactly what he was looking at other than knowing it was his shoulder.

Dr. Wexford pointed to a spot on the first film. "If you see here, there is a complete tear of the acromioclavicular ligament which by itself would not warrant surgery."

 _Here it comes, thought Mac_. The bad news I was expecting.

"But as you see here," he pointed to a different slide. "There appears to be a slight tear to this coracoclavicular ligament."

He turned towards Mac and pointed toward the brace. "I'd like to take the brace off and take a look at your shoulder."

Mac started to undue the Velcro straps. His movements were slow and deliberate but his mind was racing. He wanted nothing more than to take the brace off and have the doctor declare him healed.

Doctor Wexford set the brace aside. Mac had his forearm cradled protectively in his lap not wanting to move his arm.

With practiced hands, the doctor palpated first the top and then the side of Mac's shoulder. After a series of "any pain here; how's that feel" questions each with a "No." Or a "Fine," Answer. Wexford made a mental note of each abnormality and grimace or subtle flinch.

Finished with his examination, he picked up the velcro and neoprene brace handing it back to Mac.

"Have you been taking the pain meds I prescribed?"

Mac paused for a second deciding if he should tell the truth or not. He picked the third option... avoidance. "I still have some left," as he maneuvered back into the brace using it as an excuse to avoid eye contact with the doctor.

Doctor Wexford looked at Bozer for any confirmation. Bozer had gone un noticed by either of the men since the visit had begun and was surprised by the Doctor looking to him for input. Mac turned his attentions to Bozer wondering if his best friend would rat him out. Bozer just shrugged his shoulders.

"Well, Mac. I have been in this business for a very long time. The majority of which I have spent treating some of the toughest men and women our military has to offer." He tilted Macs head back to get a look at his eyes for confirmation. "I doubt you've taken a single pill I prescribed."

Mac looked down at the table then back up at Wexford. "You're right but I don't need them. The aspirin has been working just fine." He said defiantly.

Doctor Wexford chuckled and shook his head from side to side. "So you're a doctor now are you?" Before Mac could respond Wexford continued. "All you guys are the same. Just because you don't take the meds doesn't mean whatever is wrong will just go away." He paused to let his words sink in. "The pain medication I prescribed has anti inflammatory properties that if you actually decided to take them, would have made you a lot more comfortable so that you could get the rest that shoulder of yours needs."

Mac dipped his head and quietly admitted. "I don't uh, sleep good on those pills."

Realization crossed Wexfords face. "Nightmares are a rare but possible side affect of those particular pills. I'll write you a different script that I _absolutely_ expect you to take as prescribed." Wexford looked at Bozer. "Mr. Bozer, I am holding you responsible to make sure he does as ordered."

Bozer's eyes widened and shifted to Mac. "Um, ok?"

Mac duly chastised didn't say a word.

"Now," Wexford continued. "We have a few options. We can keep you in the brace for an additional two weeks." He looked at Mac for a reaction which as he suspected would be less than enthusiastic. "Or we could schedule surgery" Mac's eyes got brighter. "If you elect the surgery" Wexford continued" It would require additional rehab, extending your time off.

Wexford watched Mac. He had seen the emotional roller coaster in most of his patients when given the option. Mac remained silent contemplating all the factors. The biggest of which was how long he was going to be out of the field.

"Which option gets me back to work the soonest?" Mac asked almost demanding.

 _And there it is Wexford thought_. Before he could answer Bozer joined the conversation.

"Doctor Wexford? Which option would make Mac's shoulder a hundred percent?"

Mac glared at Bozer. At this point he didn't care about percentages, he just wanted to get out of the immobilizing sling and get back to work. Bozer surprised him by returning the glare.

Wexford looked at Mac while answering Bozer's question. "Unfortunately neither. That being said, surgery would make the shoulder more stable but it is not the only option." He answered honestly. "If we keep the splint on and find that there is still some pain and instability after the five weeks we can still do the surgery."

Mac joined the conversation. "You said I only had to wear this thing for three weeks when I was here last week."

Wexford nodded "yes, you are correct but that was before the second tear was detected. The additional time is more realistic for this type of injury." He started to take the films off of the light board.

"So, Mac, you don't have to decide today, think it over and let me know sometime this week. If you decide on surgery, we can schedule it fairly quickly."

Mac stood up from the table and Bozer joined him. "Thanks Doc, I'll give you a call." Mac said somberly.

"You're welcome. I'll call the new prescription into your pharmacy." He gave Bozer a knowing look.

Bozer thanked the doctor and followed Mac out into the hallway. "You alright Mac?"

Mac looked up at Bozer. "Yeah, just not what I wanted to hear." He paused. "Listen, you head back to the lab, I'm going to go find out what's going on in the war room. I'll catch you later Boze."

"Alright man, I can stop by the pharmacy on my way home so you don't have to." He said taking his new responsibility seriously.

Mac gave a Bozer a half smile. "Thanks Boze."

"No problem Mac. Alright, I'll catch you later." As he headed back to the lab.

Mac headed to the war room his first instinct invading his thoughts. _We're supposed to be off the clock. Whatever Matty wanted with Jack must have been important_. Trying to get the ominous thoughts out of his head he tried to think of other reasons Jack would have been summoned for so abruptly. _Wonder what Jack did this time_. _Maybe it has something to do with Bozer's training. No, that can't be it. He hasn't even started yet. Whatever it is, she didn't call me. I should have been involved. Unless she's got Jack painting my Jeep pink camouflage... I'll kill him_.

When he reached the war room it was empty. "What the hell?" He said out loud. He turned and headed to Matty's office. _If Jack was done meeting with Matty, he would have come by the docs office. Or, he really is helping paint my Jeep_.

Mac arrived at Matty's office and saw her behind her desk talking to someone on her tablet. She saw him standing out in the hall and waved him in. "Hang on a sec, he's coming." She said to the screen in her hand.

When Mac reached her desk she said to the device. "Here he is." And handed the tablet to Mac.

He took one look at the figure on the screen and knew his Jeep was going to remain its original color. "Hey bud, how'd the doc's go?" Jack asked.

Mac studied the background and Jack's wardrobe. "What are... where are you?"

"Probably over San Diego right about now." Jack said literally. "I would have said adios but you were in with the Doc."

Mac frowned. "Right but..." he was interrupted by Jack. "Dude! Doc... what'd he say?"

"Oh, he said I could stay in the splint or have surgery." Mack said nonchalantly. "What are you doing? Where are you going?"

Jack gave Mac a genuine Dalton smile. "Matty can fill you in bud... Hang on a sec." Jack put a hand to his ear obviously listening to something. Mac could see the thin coiled cord leading to an ear piece. Jack's head dipped down and to the side. His face serious. He spoke into an unseen microphone. _Copy that, keep Dittybopper monitoring ground comms, and lemme know when we get new comics_. Jack turned back to the screen. "Sorry Dude, gotta cut this short." Jack paused for a few seconds. "Take care of yourself Mac. I'll see ya when I see ya. And get some damn sleep. Love ya bud." Jack winked and before Mac could respond the screen went blank.

Mac felt like his chest was getting tight, his ears buzzed his face felt hot and he was starting to feel nauseous. _I'm ok... I'm ok... I'm ok_. His slight panic attack averted he turned a questioning glare on Matty. "What the hell is going on and why is Jack on a plane wearing combat gear monitoring ground communications and requesting updated maps? And... why the hell didn't you call me?"

Matty put her hand up to stop Mac's tirade. "Settle down Blondie and take a seat. I'll get you up to speed."

To be continued...

A/N: From here on out, it's mission time. It's moving along but I am finding myself going back again and again editing or rewriting stuff I thought I had finished. Trying to keep track of who's doing what has been a challenge in itself. So, we'll see how it goes I guess. Anyways, hope you enjoyed this.


	7. Chapter 7

A/N: Thanks for the reviews. As always, a special shout out to Dlwells51. Thanks for the assist. If there's any mistakes, they're all mine. Feel free to point them out please. I played a little fast and loose with time in this chapter, and the next. It got a little complicated to try and go back to fix it so, I pretended I was in Vegas and just 'let it ride.'

Disclaimer: I still don't own anything having to do with the show. If I did we wouldn't have to wait for a new episode.

Chapter 7

One of the things Jack absolutely did not miss from his Delta days was the fold down canvas seats inside a C-130 transport. _You'd think after all this time they'd have come up with something a little more comfortable._ He thought. He lifted the Velcro strap covering his watch. _Should be over the drop point in a bit._ He picked up the tablet _these maps suck man..._ _No details._ Standing, he stretched his arms wide feeling satisfying pops in various joints. Jack walked toward the back of the plane headed for the man that was going to be his partner for this operation.

He wasn't thrilled to be paired up with the agent, he didn't seem like the soldier type. But, you couldn't always go off of what you see. Jack smiled to himself remembering the first time he had seen Mac. _If someone would have told him at the time that he'd end up working with that skinny kid stopping all manner of bad guys, he'd have thought they were crazy._ So, Jack decided to give this new guy the benefit of the doubt before passing judgment.

While they had been putting their gear together, Jack had tried to pry information out of the agent. Dropping subtle hints without success. He finally came straight out and asked the man if he was ex Spec. Ops.  
The answer he had gotten didn't surprise him. The guy had been recruited out of college and had been working in intelligence ever since. _'You don't happen to know how to make stuff from paper clips, chewing gum and duct tape do ya?'_ Jack had asked the man. Remembering the confused look on the agents face, Jack smiled.

Jack reached down to shake the mans shoulder. _What was the dudes name? Burt... Bill? whatever._  
"Yo, Spooky, where the hell are my new maps? I can't see shit on these man." Jack said startling the agent.

"Agent Dalton, I have satellite images of the compound and the GPS coordinates. That should be sufficient." The agent said nonchalantly.

Jack pulled a photo out of his vest. "Who took this? Mr. Magoo? I mean come on dude, this is the best the CIA could come up with?"

The agents brows furrowed. "I don't know who Mr. Magoo is Mr. Dalton, but our target has proven to be a very cautious man. We haven't been able to get close enough to ask him to provide a head shot."

Jack ignored the agent's sarcasm "Dude, how many ops you been on?"

The other man looked annoyed. "I have been on several intelligence gathering operations Mr. Dalton."

The guy insisted on calling Jack by his honorific.

"Well, that's... encouraging." Jack deadpanned. "I've got a few under my belt and listen to me when I tell ya the more info going in the better." Jack waved the tablet. "We need paper maps. Topo, satellite and whatever else we can get our hands on."  
He held the tablet out. These things can fail, man. When I was with Delta, paper saved our asses."  
The agent's brows raised.

Jack raised a hand realizing what he'd just said. "What I mean is... We need something we can write on." Jack said pleading his case.

The agent looked Jack up and down. "Agent Dalton I understand you have a lot of... experience, but the advances the in technology have improved somewhat since you were with Delta."

At that, Jack realized there was no changing the agents mind. "Don't suppose you even carry a pencil do ya?"

The agent was tired of listening to Jack and sighed. "Agent Dalton, this is my operation. The only reason you are here, I'm told, is because you were available, have a very distant connection to our target and in the event we cannot capture the target, you are sniper qualified. So, why don't you go sit down, relax and let me handle the more _technical_ aspects of this operation."

Jack wanted nothing more than to grab the man by the neck and squeeze till his eyes popped out. Instead, Jack simply said, "It's your show hoss." And walked back towards the front of the plane.

Matty walked to the door and shut it. Returning to her desk, "Jack is on loan to the CIA. They requested our assistance for a snatch and grab in Honduras."

Mac's brow furrowed. "Why Jack? Is there some history involved here?"

"Yes and no, it's got nothing to do with..." Matty stopped mid sentence. There was a knock and her office door opened.

Andie walked in. Matty looked up at her and raised her brows expectantly. "I'm sorry Ma'am, um..." Andie shifted her eyes to Mac then back to Matty. Matty waived her hand. "It's fine Andie, what is it?"

Without pause, Andie cradled her tablet and slid her finger across the screen. "Ma'am, I don't quite know what to make of the message." She scrutinized the message on her screen again before reading it out loud. "Comics suck, spooky dude is a douche and has no GOFO. Send graphic novels and better main character photo asap!"

Mac mentally translated the message. _The maps suck, CIA guy is a douche and has no grasp of the effin obvious. Send new maps and better photo as soon as possible._  
"Thank you Andie, I understand." Matty smiled. The confused secretary left the room.

Matty picked up her phone looking at Mac she held her hand up with a single finger raised signaling him to hang on a minute.  
Mac listened to the one sided conversation.

"Riley? Matty... How soon can you be here? Ok, see you in twenty." Matty stood up.

"Come on Blondie, we've got a mission to highjack."

Once they reached the war room, Matty closed the door and frosted the glass.

She was working on her tablet. Mac wanted answers. "You said this had something to do with Jack's past?"

She continued to work on the tablet as she answered. "Actually, it has to do with both of you in a round about way." She slid a finger across the tablet and the big screen on the wall came to life. The photo on the screen was one he hadn't expected to see for a very long time.

Mac could feel his chest getting tight again and held his breath. He was staring at the mug shot of Joaquine Sancola. "What does this have to do with 'El Noche' he's still in prison right?" He said getting his breathing and pulse under control.

"Yes he is, however," the picture changed on the screen to a blurry photo that looked like it had been taken from far away. "This is supposedly Juan Moreno Sancola." She paused "Either that or it's Big Foot." She said trying to lighten the mood.

Matty had read the mission debrief and understood how close Mac had been to being killed by El Noche.

Mac studied the screen. She was right, it was a very poor picture. "So, who's Juan? We never heard of him."

"Well, according to the CIA, Juan is El Noche's brother. Apparently when you guys dismantled the cartel by capturing his Lieutenants you missed the most important one."

Mac scowled "We never heard of Juan and as far as the mission went, we were going off of someone else's intel. All we were supposed to do was break El Noche out of prison, locate their base of operations and his Lieutenants."

"Which you did," she said slightly impressed. "But, in doing so, you changed the status quo. Violence erupted between the cartels. The fight for control of the territories became extremely violent as did the retaliation against the authorities." She paused.

"Juan set about wreaking havoc across the area, firebombing banks and gas stations." Pictures on the screen showed articles confirming what she was saying. "The entire police force was effectively wiped out. Car bombs, kidnapings and executions were carried out with impunity. The authorities do not want a repeat of that. So, we are helping with the snatch and grab and if everything goes to plan, they won't know what happened to Juan. He'll have just disappeared."

"And if it doesn't?" Mac asked worriedly. "Go smoothly?"

Matty sighed. "If they can't grab Juan, they're going to eliminate him."

Mac's brows furrowed. "But, that doesn't make sense. Won't that upset the status quo, as you put it?"

"What can I say Mac, when was the last time the CIA did anything that made sense,"

"I should be there." Mac said somberly.

"Doing what? Mac. They're jumping in. Juan's suspected compound is well protected and in the middle of no where. The CIA has a general area but they're not one hundred percent sure exactly what they're dealing with. So, Jack and, _Spooky_ are going in to do recon first. If they locate Juan and the opportunity presents itself, they'll grab him. If not..." She left it open to interpretation.

"Sounds like they don't know much of anything. I don't like it." Concern showing on his face.

"Well, they do know the cartel has RPG's. They've managed to shoot down two Honduran Intelligence helicopters over the past couple of months." She said matter of factly.

Matty's phone buzzed. She walked to the door and opened it touching the wall to clear the glass on her way back to the front of the room.

Thirty seconds later, Riley walked in. She smiled "Hey, what's up, we have something?" Her smile faded when she took in the look on Macs face. She looked around the room for Jack. She started to panic "What happened, where's Jack?"

Matty spoke up. "Jack is fine, he's on a mission and we need to give him some help. That's where you come in."

Mac didn't wait for Matty to explain. He walked up to the big screen and pointed to the area the CIA suspected as Juan's compound. "We need the clearest most detailed maps and intel about this location you can get. And we need it...?" He looked at Matty.

She looked at her watch. "An hour if they're on schedule."

Riley sat down and opened her computer. She started typing looking up every now and again at the big screens.

Mac and Matty watched the screens as pictures of terrain flashed by. Riley's key strokes were coming so fast one stroke was indistinguishable from the next. Eventually the screens became one big picture. Riley continued to type but the key strokes had slowed until finally the picture zoomed in on a series of buildings.

Matty studied the picture for a few seconds. She looked at her own tablet. A few taps later and she handed it to Riley. "Can you send this," she waved at the big screen "to that address?" She nodded at her tablet Riley had in her hand.

Riley set the tablet down on the table and started typing again. She was concentrating on her own computer. Both Matty and Mac were watching her until she stopped typing and looked up at the big screen. A brief smile crossed her face then her demeanor changed.

"Hey y'all." Jack's upper body took up the entire screen. "Hey Ry."

"Hey Jack" Riley said taking in the sight.

"Figured you'd be able to get me something better than these freaking water colors they call maps, thanks. Don't suppose you could send some topo's too. They've got a printer in the cockpit."

"Sure thing Jack." Riley went back to typing. She raised her head when Jack spoke.

"Think you could do something with the picture of the Yeti?" He asked holding up a small photo.

Riley was confused and looked to Matty.

Mac answered. "El Noche has a brother named Juan. Jack's supposed to kidnap him, or take him out." Mac said less than enthused then looked at the screen.

Jack had apparently set his own tablet down because the view had changed. His head wasn't visible but the rest of him was.

Matty had picked up her tablet and pulled the picture of Juan up onto her screen turning it so Riley could see. Riley started typing furiously again.

Mac watched Jack. He was checking his gear. Everything had it's place and Jacks hands moved with practiced ease. The last time Mac had seen Jack dressed in full combat gear loaded for bear, they were in Afghanistan. The color of the camouflage was different but everything else was the same.

Mac closed his eyes for a second, taking a calming breath. None of this felt right. There was too much that could go wrong. The lack of intel for one. The suddenness of the mission and the fact that he wasn't going to be with Jack made everything feel that much more ominous.

"Hey you guys?" Jacks head and shoulders filled the screen. "I'm on a bit of a time crunch here. We're out the door in ten mikes. You got anything for me on Don Juan Ry?"

She looked up surprised at his appearance. Jacks face was covered with a camouflage pattern of grease paint. He was wearing a helmet with a small flashlight on the side and he had on clear glasses.

"I'm sorry Jack, I can't do anything with that photo, I tried but it's just..."

He interrupted her "It's alright Ry, we've got a general description."

"You should have topo's, a close up of the compound and a wide satellite view of the area waiting in your in box. Hope they help." Riley said worriedly.

Jack leaned toward the tablet. "Hang on a sec, gotta send em to the printer."

Riley smiled. She had spent days teaching Jack how to send a document from the tablet to a printer.

Jack stood up going out of frame except for his chest. He bent back down making his face take up most of the screen. "Hang on a sec., be right back." They watched the screen. Jack turned and they could see him lean to the side talking to someone in a dark green jumpsuit wearing a black flight helmet.  
Whatever he had said, the man nodded and left.

Jack walked away from the camera. Mac recognized the familiar sniper rifle slung across Jack's back along with the pistol strapped to his leg and a handle of a machete could be seen sticking out of the top of the back of his vest.

Jack picked something up and walked back towards the camera. He stood back and put what looked like a small back pack on then started buckling straps around his legs. "Can you guys hear me?"

Mac answered first. "Yeah, Jack we hear you.?"

"Good, listen. We're outa here in a few. Ry, thanks for the intel." He continued to get ready adjusting the numerous velcro straps on his tactical vest that were holding all manner of gear. He went about the final gear check unconsciously while continuing their conversation. "Matty, if this goes sideways, I'm heading for the river."

He pulled the pistol from the holster attached to the front of his vest. Pushing the slide back confirming it was loaded then returned the weapon to the holster.

"Don't worry Jack, I'll come up with something." She said reassuring.

"Comms are gonna be crap, I've got my sat phone," he said holding the phone up. "But I'm working with their gear here."

Jack repeated the weapons check with the pistol attached to his leg.

"What the..." Bozer said as he walked in and looked at the screen.

"Hey Boze. Guess your weapons training is on hold for a while." Jack smiled his white teeth contrasting with the camouflage face paint.

Jack bent over out of frame coming up with a fully equipped M4 rifle, ducking under the strap and slinging the rifle he adjusted the straps so the rifle was secure, tight to his chest.

Bozer stood taking in the sight mouth agape.

"Hey Mac, take care of that shoulder." Jack said continuing to adjust his gear.

The soldier in the flight suit came into frame. He handed Jack some papers.

"I will Jack, watch your six." Mac said sincerely.

"Will do brother." Jack looked up and smiled.

"Ry, got the maps." He held up the papers. "Thanks hun."

Before she could respond, Jack reached toward the screen. "Hey, somebody record the NFL combine for me will ya, I'm Oscar Mike, see y'all back at the barn."

The screen went black.

The room was quiet everyone lost in their own thoughts. No one but Mac and Matty had seen Jack in full combat gear and even for them it had been a while.

Watching him check weapons and adjust his gear was a reminder that while Jack may play fast and loose at times, when it came down to it, Jack was a very capable, very dangerous man.

Bozer finally stepped forward. "Um, what's going on and who's Oscar Mike?"

Mac gave Bozer a half smile. "Oscar Mike is short for 'on the move'. Stick Jack back in his gear and he's got a whole new vocabulary."

Bozer and Riley looked at each other, eyebrows raised then they looked to Mac.

"It's a military thing." Mac said as if that made everything clear.

"Right but why is jack dressed like he's ready for the zombie apocalypse and where is he?" Bozer asked.

Riley gasped. She opened her computer and began to furiously type. "I'm an idiot, why didn't I think of this sooner." She said talking to no one in particular.

She looked up at the big screen and smiled.

They were looking at the terrain with a single red dot moving above it.

"What the hell?" She said. "That's not right" she began to type some more. The dot moved a little but not much.

"What's wrong?" Mac asked.

She pointed at the big screen. "That's Jacks sat phone but it's like it's still on the plane except the plane isn't moving forward. Doesn't make sense."

"Sure it does," Mac said. "He just jumped out of the plane."

To be continued...

Hope you enjoyed, I finally got the entire gang all together in the same chapter. I think I'm going comma crazy. I've read and re-read this thing and every time I do, I find places to add a comma or two. My punctuation and grammar is definitely rusty. I've forgotten all the rules. I've been unintentionally playing around with present tense and past tense. I know there's a term for it but I can't remember what it's called. So, let me know if you can tell the difference between what's going on now vs. what has happened already. Did you have to re-read parts to figure out what was going on, and when? Thanks a bunch!


	8. Chapter 8

A/N: Thanks to all of you for the reviews, glad you're still enjoying this. Thanks Dlwells51 for taking a look at this, it's much appreciated. Also, would like to thank 302 Pilot for giving me a heads-up on some wayward periods where comma's should have been in ch. 7. I figured out how to fix it. Kinda proud of that.

Warning: There is a character death but I don't think anyone's gonna miss him. Still playing a little fast and loose with time in this. What can I say. Also, there's a few cuss words.

Disclaimer: Don't own anything having to do with the show.

Chapter 8

Jack had jumped out of too many planes to count over the years. But, It had been years since he did a night jump in full gear.

Everything he looked at had a green hue to it. The night vision gear that he was wearing was definitely an improvement from the ones he used to use but they still hadn't quite figured out the depth perception difference. _I bet Mac could figure something out. Maybe even get rid of this green tint._ Looking at his altimeter. _Six seconds._

Jack looked to his right and could see 'Spooky' just below.

He still couldn't remember the agent's real name. _Brent, Bill... whatever._ He thought, as he reached back and pulled the cord.

He felt the familiar jerk on the harness. Instantly it seemed as though he was going up but Jack knew the sensation was actually him just slowing down.

Looking up he thanked the powers that be for a good chute deployment.

Jack looked around trying to find Spooky. He couldn't see him below. When he tried to look up he couldn't see past his own chute.

Pulling the right cord he turned in a tight circle finally spotting Spooky high above. _Dude can't read an altimeter or what. I swear if that dude gets me killed, I'm gonna be pissed._

Jack strained his eyes, trying to get a preview of the area they were going to come down in. He was still too high to see anything in detail. Finally he just relaxed and enjoyed the ride.

Thirty seconds later, Jack saw the trees coming up to meet him. He knew they were going to be coming down in the trees thanks to the maps Riley had sent. It was either that or land in a steep canyon with no guarantee they could climb out.

He had voiced as much to the CIA agent while they were still on the plane. The agent didn't see the problem. According to him, the pictures Jack was looking at could be nothing more than bushes. Jack had disagreed with little success.

 _This is gonna suck_. He thought.

Trying to steer the chute so he would come down between trees proved to be a little more difficult. The up canyon winds were wreaking havoc on his attempts to steer. As he got closer to the trees, he bent his knees keeping his legs together waiting for the impact.

Jack grit his teeth and held his breath as he crashed through the canopy of trees. His padded knee struck a branch turning him sideways for a split second. He instinctively put his arm out to stop his decent and his padded elbow struck another branch. He was still falling sideways when he hit another large branch. His vest took most of the impact but it was enough to knock the wind out of him.

Hitting that last branch had hurt but it worked in his favor. It had effectively turned him right side up again. Finally he came to a stop, feet dangling. Jack tried to get air back in his lungs, grunting until the pain came down to a manageable level.

Jacks chute was caught in the branches and he was about ten feet off of the ground. Reaching up with both hands grasping the chute releases he prepared himself for his second landing of the night. Holding his breath he pulled the releases.

Jack hit the ground knees bent and rolled to lessen the impact. He stood up with a quiet groan. Adjusting his knee and elbow pads, he looked up into the tree. Son of a... _gotta get up there and pull that chute down_. He thought as he was unstrapping the remnants of the chute harness. _All it would take is some plane or helicopter to fly over in the day time and they'd know we're here._

Jack studied the tree trying to figure out the best route up. Mind made up he shoved the M4 around to his back and began the climb.

Twenty minutes later, Jack was back on the ground. Chute rolled tight, he stashed it under a downed hollowed out tree not too far from his landing spot.  
 _Housekeeping's done, now where the hell did Spooky come down._ He quickly adjusted his weapons, bringing the M4 around to his front. Taking stock of his gear systematically ensuring his weapons were present and in working order. He started his mental check list. _M4, mag... sights... check. Long gun, mag...scope...bipod... check. Pistol, clip...check... back-up Pistol, clip... check. Magazines... check. Machete, shoulder knife, boot knife... check, check, check. Water check, sat phone in working order... check. Med kit...check._

Twenty-two minutes after crashing through the trees, Jack was on the move. He blocked out the dull ache in his ribs. He could feel a stinging sensation on the side of his face and his ear. He gently rubbed his ear. Looking at his gloved hand, the fingers had a little blood on them. _Nothing broken and nothing that's gonna kill me, he thought._

Mac had watched the red dot. He visualized every move. His heart skipped a beat when he saw the dot circle. _Chute failure?_ He thought. But then the dot continued its slow forward movement. _Either he's going too slow and wanted to speed up or he was looking for something._ The dot zig zagged before finally coming to a stop. It seemed to stay in one position for an eternity. "Riley, any way you can zoom in?"

Riley had been typing on her computer the entire time Jack was in the air. Matty and Bozer watching over her shoulder. All three looked up at the big screen at Mac's question.

"I can zoom in but it's not really going to help. It's just going to be mostly black. I've been working on trying to find a satellite with IR capabilities but so far, none of them are close enough to do any good." She paused and hit a few keys. The big screen changed to daylight terrain. "I can overlay Jack's position with the maps I sent him earlier. That's the best I can do for now."

Mac studied the image. No clear place to land. All manner of possibilities were running through his head. _He could have been knocked out or hung up too high in the tree or impaled by a branch... I should be there dammit!_

The dot started to move. Mac let out a breath he didn't know he was holding.

"Looks like he made it down ok." Matty said looking at Mac.

Mac sat down in the chair watching the screen. His adrenaline completely depleted, shoulder throbbing and exhaustion setting in. "Yeah." He said tiredly.

"Why don't you go home Mac. We won't be able to see anything until daylight anyway." Matty turned to Riley. "Right?"

"Um, yeah, or for at least another 50 minutes. There's a Chinese satellite I can use that's going to be somewhat close by then." Riley said looking back at her screen.

Mac shook his head, "No, I'm not going anywhere until Jack gets back. If something goes wrong I want to be here. Riley, can you zoom out to show the compound with Jack's position?"

A few key strokes later the image sharpened again and Mac slid to the edge of his seat, focusing intently.

Matty stepped into Mac's view. "Seriously Mac why don't you go home for a while. Bozer can give you a ride home, because you are _not_ getting your keys back yet."

Mac barely spared her a glance, a frown of determination on his face. "I told you, I'm not going anywhere."

She sighed. "Alright but you're going to eat something and you're going to get some rest, even if it's on the couch."

Bozer stepped forward, interrupting the resulting tense silence. "I can't do anything here, I'm gonna go fill Mac's prescription. While I'm out I'll pick up some sandwiches and stuff."

Matty smiled at Bozer. "Thank you Bozer." Riley joined in, "yeah, thanks Boze."

Mac was watching the screen. Without looking back he said "ok, Boze, thanks."

Bozer looked up at the screen then back at Mac. He shook his head as he walked out. _Jack better get whatever it is he's doing done quick, Mac's not gonna get any sleep. If he doesn't take his pain pills I'm gonna sick Matty on him._ He smiled as he pictured Mac trying to defy their boss. Images of a honey badger and a wolverine going at it entered his mind.

Mac watched the dot move in the opposite direction of the compound. He stood up and walked to the big screen. "Riley can you determine how big this building is?" He said pointing at what looked like a metal building or long shed.

A few key strokes later she looked up. "It's about a hundred feet long by forty feet wide. Maybe a storage building?"

Mac sat back down mumbling to himself, fingers moving as if writing.

Matty watched him. Her curiosity getting the better of her. "Hey, Baby Einstein, you wanna share with the group or are you having a seizure?"

Mac looked up confused. "What?"

"I said what are you doing?"

"Oh, I'm uh... I'm, figuring out how fast Jack is moving." At her questioning look. He stood up and made his way to the big screen again. He pointed to the building. "Based on the size of the building I can determine distance, and calculating the amount of time..." He moved closer to the screen pointing to where Jack's dot was at and continued. "It takes Jack to go this distance." He held his hand up indicating a space between his thumb and forefinger. "I can figure out he's moving at about three miles an hour so that tells me that his legs are ok." He scowled. "I'm just not sure why he's moving in the opposite direction of the compound."

The picture on the screen changed. "I think I can help with that." Riley said.

Mac watched the screen. A second dot appeared. He looked at Riley. She looked down at her screen then back up again. "The blue dot is CIA agent Bob Rutherford." She said. "It took me a while but I got his sat phone and..." she pointed at the screen. "Well, there he is."

Matty looked at Riley. "Nice work. I don't want to know how you got the number do I?"

Riley glanced at Matty. "Well technically, we _are_ sort of involved in the mission right? So, I figured if we had any information to pass on we should probably have both of their numbers right?"

Matty didn't answer. She turned to watch Mac. He was studying the screen. Jacks red dot was still moving. The blue dot wasn't. "Riley, is there any way you can put Jack's tracks on the screen?"

"Sure." She started typing again. When she stopped, the route Jack had taken was on the screen. What's he doing?

"He's looking for Agent Rutherford." Mac nodded his head towards the blue dot. Then looked to Matty. "Do they have comms?"

"They do but they were told not to use them unless it was an emergency. Intelligence suggests the cartels monitor all uhf, vhf and 800 megahertz frequencies."

Riley looked at her screen brows knitted. "Do we have their frequency?"

Matty shook her head. "No, this isn't a Phoenix operation. Jack is just on loan so other than his own weapons, gear and sat phone, he was outfitted with their comms." She picked up her phone and started to walk out of the room. "I'm going to find out though."

"Can't we just call the sat phone then? Let him know where Rutherford is at?" Riley asked looking at Mac.

Mac shook his head. "We could but without knowing who is out there..." he waved at the screen. "We run the risk of giving his position away. Jack would have the phone silenced anyway." He sighed. "Until they get a good distance away from where they came down I wouldn't expect to hear anything."

Jack was getting frustrated. He hadn't found any sign of the CIA agent. Based on where he was at when he had pulled his own chute and the way the winds were at the time, Spooky should be somewhere in the close by, but he had yet to find any sign of him.

Matty walked back into the room. She handed Riley a piece of paper. "Here, that's the frequency their comms are on. I don't know how much good it'll do."

Riley looked at the numbers on the paper. Mac walked over to look at the digits. "This frequency is" Riley began. "VHF... Essentially, line of sight." Mac finished the sentence.

Mac looked at Matty. "You said Honduran Intelligence suspected the cartels of monitoring radio traffic?"

"That's right." Matty confirmed.

Mac made his way to the big screen. "Riley can you find the highest terrain features within say... 20 miles of the compound?"

"Yeah, sure." She said somewhat confused but worked on his request.

Matty walked to Mac's side. "What's going on in that brain of yours Blondie?"

"Well, if the cartels are supposedly monitoring radio traffic they'd have to have antennas and possibly repeaters. The best place to put a repeater is on top of a hill or mountain." Mac said as he studied the terrain on the screen.

Riley looked up from her screen to see where Mac was looking. Catching on to his line of thinking. "Hang on a sec, I think I can narrow it down a little bit."

Mac watched the screen. A topographic map was layered over the image. Mac studied the elevation lines. He pointed to the screen. "Riley, zoom into here, here and here. And can you mark those spots?"

Three 'X's appeared on the screen. Riley zoomed in on the first. There was a tower on top of the small mountain. Mac studied the tower. "Yep, that's got to be an antenna or a repeater."

Before Mac could ask, Riley had put the coordinates on the screen. She zoomed into the next 'X' Another antenna site and another set of coordinates appeared. It was the same with the third.

Mac turned to Matty "Any way we can get their military or intelligence agency to take out those towers?"

She picked up her phone and again walked out of the room.

Mac walked back to the chair. "You have the coordinates saved right?"

Riley nodded and then changed the big screen back to show Jacks location and track.

He had gone quite a distance and was within fifty feet of the blue dot. The blue dot still hadn't moved.

Jack stopped to listen. The sound he heard was faint but he knew exactly what it was. He moved forward looking up into the trees. There it was, the parachute was slowly flapping with the wind. Looking up, he followed the chute cords, carefully climbing over the rock outcropping the tree was growing out of. He had found Spooky. He gave a soft quick whistle trying to get the agent's attention.

There was no movement. Spooky had apparently come down too fast over the tops of the trees. His chute caught one side of the tree, while he had gotten hung up in the other. Jack couldn't tell if the man was dead or just unconscious.

He studied the branches trying to find the best route up to the agent. _If Mac were here, he'd probably come up with some kind of ladder or elevator. He smiled to himself. A hover board. Yep, Mac, I could really us a hover board right about now._ He thought.

Jack shoved the M4 around his back climbed up onto the rocks at the base of the tree and grabbed the first branch within reach, hoisting himself up into a tree for the second time that night.

The higher Jack went the smaller the branches were becoming. _Just bushes huh? Got my butt climbing the biggest freaking bushes I've ever seen pal._

Finally reaching a spot directly below the agent, Jack studied the branches that were supporting the man. He followed the chute cords trying to determine what would happen if he released the agents chute.

"You're hanging up here like a damn plumb bob dude." He grunted as he levered himself higher up into the tree. _Bob... that was the guy's name,_ he thought.

He grabbed Bob's wrist. _No pulse. Dammit!_ Jack reached up to feel Bob's neck. He waited. _Nothing_. "Well buddy I hope you went quick. And I'm sorry but I gotta get you down. Can't have you or your gear laying about if you know what I mean." Jack whispered to the dead man. "I promise we'll get you home."

Jack looked down, he was about twenty feet up. Looking at the chute restraints, Jack figured if he released the chute Spooky Bob would probably drop through the branches. That was a sight Jack did not want to see. Dead or not, Jack figured he owed it to the guy to treat him better than a sack of potatoes.

Wrapping one arm around a branch, Jack reached forward and unclipped the tightly coiled rope that was attached to Bob's vest.

Mac and Riley watched the red and blue dots on the screen. She had zoomed in as much as she could before the trees became nothing but a green blur.

"Sorry Mac, since I'm essentially using a screen grab from earlier today, that's the best I can do right now." She said disappointed.

The red dot had been moving slightly then had stopped. The two dots were overlapping each other. Mac was sitting slouched in the chair. Twenty minutes had past since the dots came together. _Something's wrong Mac thought._ Jack wouldn't stay in one place that far away from the objective unless something was wrong.

Matty came back in. "Well, I called everyone I could think of and it seems no one wants to be blamed for destroying the repeaters."

"Well that's just stupid." Riley commented.

Mac pointed to the screen. "Jack found Agent Rutherford. They haven't moved in the last twenty minutes, something's wrong."

Matty looked up to the screen. "How long before the Chinese satellite is in range?"

Riley punched some keys. "5 minutes. It's only going to be overhead for about thirty after that. But at least we'll be able to see what's going on."

"Is there any way the Chinese will know we're using their satellite?" Matty asked.

"No. I'm essentially just piggy backing their feed and once I do that I can zoom in." She smiled. "Piece of cake."

Bozer walked in carrying three grocery bags. "What'd I miss?" He said looking at the screen. "Anybody hear from Jack yet?" He placed the bags on the table.

"Nothing much." Mac said. "Jack found the CIA agent but they haven't moved. We found the repeater sites the cartels are using to intercept radio communications but no one wants to take them out." He pointed at Riley "Riley is going to piggyback the signal from a Chinese satellite." Pointing back to the dots on the screen. "And we still haven't heard anything from Jack. Don't expect to for a while." He said tiredly.

Bozer reached into one of the grocery bags and brought out a small white bag from the pharmacy. "I got your meds. The directions say to take one to two pills every four to six hours as needed."

Bozer opened the small bag and removed the pill bottle. He reached into a grocery bag and brought out a bottle of water.

Walking over to Mac he shook out one pill and held it and the water out for Mac to take. Mac held up his hand. "I'm good Boze."

Bozer turned to Matty eyebrows raised.

"Mac, if you don't take the damn pill, I will have you escorted out of here, and sent directly to the doctor's office until tomorrow." Matty said seriously.

Mac started to protest but the serious look on his boss' face made him think otherwise. "Fine" he said as he took the pill popped it in his mouth and took a sip of water.

"Honey badger wins." Bozer mumbled.

Matty shot him a glare.

Matty walked up to face Mac. "Open" she said. Mac looked at her and rolled his eyes. He took another swallow of water then leaned forward opening his mouth so she could see he did in fact swallow the pill.

Satisfied, Matty moved out of his personal space.

Bozer went back to the grocery bags. "I've got all the stuff to make my world famous Dagwood sandwiches. Who's ready to be amazed?" He said enthusiastically.

"Bozer." Mac said with a warning tone. He pointed at the screen. "This is serious, it's not some movie."

Bozer gazed at the floor. "I know Mac. I'm worried about Jack too but we gotta eat right? If Jack were here he'd be the first one to try a sandwich. And he'd make sure you tried one too." He looked at Matty. "Isn't that right?"

The screen changed. "I've got the satellite up." Riley said

They all watched the screen. The image wasn't as detailed as Mac would have liked.

He looked at Matty. "Don't suppose you know anyone with a Predator or a U2 in the area?" He said not expecting a response.

"Is that...what are..." Bozer leaned to the side cocking his head trying to figure out what he was looking at.

Matty picked up her phone. She punched a few keys then put the device to her ear. The conversation was short, but in the end Matty had handed to phone to Riley. After a few minutes, the image changed again. The new image still in black and white with shades of gray was extremely detailed.

"Some friends of mine happen to have a Predator drone in the area." Matty announced. "It's not going to be overhead for long though."

"They're in a tree." Mac said studying the new image.

Jack had wrapped the rope around two branches in a figure eight pattern then tied one end to Bob's vest. Reaching down, he tied the other end to a different branch anchoring the agent to the tree. "Alright bud, here goes." He said quietly as he reached up and unbuckled the agent's parachute.

Bob's body dropped a few feet before the slack in the rope became tight. Jack untied the rope from the branch and slowly started to lower the body. The branches Jack had wrapped the rope around were acting as a friction device to slow the decent.

The makeshift friction device was working. Jack continued to lower Bob slowly, maintaining his footing in the tree and using his own weight as a counter balance. Bob's body was almost to the ground when jack heard the snap.

The sudden slack in the rope caused him to lose his balance. To compensate he quickly twirled the rope around his hand and forearm shifting his weight to his back foot and pulled on the rope using Spooky Bob as his own counter balance.

He quickly looked around trying to find a suitable branch to get his feet back under him when the remaining branch the rope was wrapped around broke.

Jack fell backwards. He had the rope wrapped around his right hand and held on with an iron grip. His left out to the side trying to grab the branches as he fell through the tree. He would have let go of the rope if it weren't for the fact that in his fall, it had become tangled around his arm.

Legs flailing he crashed through the tree breaking some branches while bouncing off of others. He was halfway to the ground when the slack in the rope finally caught on a large branch. Jack came to a sudden and violent stop, feeling his wrist pop before his shoulder did the same.

Jack tried to reach out with his left hand to get a purchase on the tree but the branches within reach were too small to support his weight. He tried to reach up to the rope above his hand but he couldn't use his right arm for leverage to pull himself up.

Looking down at the ground, there were a few granite boulders directly below him. The same ones he'd used to hoist himself into the tree were now effectively blocking his landing area.

Breaths coming in short gasps. His shoulder and wrist were on fire. Jack wanted to scream but he knew if anyone were in the area they'd hear him.

Trees fall all the time so even though he made quite a racket, to anyone listening it would have sounded like a natural thing in the forrest.

Jack reached back over his left shoulder and unsheathed the machete.

He grit his teeth and began to kick his legs trying to swing like a pendulum putting added pressure on his arm.

Jack got the machete ready to strike the rope. His momentum carrying him over a clear area, he hit the rope with the machete. For the fourth time that night, Jack fell. He landed on his side knocking the air out of his lungs feeling the familiar snap of ribs giving way.

Curled up into a ball he lay there grunting in pain trying to breathe. His pulse was pounding in his ears and a dark halo was closing his vision. _Get up Jack. God that hurt. Get your ass up off this damn ground you idiot._ He told himself.

He rolled over into his back cradling his arm. When he tried to sit up he felt pain in his left side. _Great, that's just great! Freaking busted rib or two._ Jack grit his teeth and with a growl, sat up. He glared at Bob's body. _If you weren't dead, I'd kick your ass!_ A groan escaped his lips. _This mission sucks!_

Jack planted his right foot in the ground bending his knee. Grabbing his right arm with the left he looped his arms over his knee.

Taking a few quick painful breaths, holding his right hand with the left, he leaned back feeling the initial pull on the shoulder joint. Deciding it was lined up, he leaned back suddenly. He felt and heard his shoulder pop back into the socket. To his ears it sounded like someone had set off a firecracker.

Cradling his arm protectively, he shuffled backwards until his back was against a boulder.

He squeezed his eyes shut and sat there taking a moment to get his breathing under control.

Jack inspected his wrist. He could still move his fingers although painful it wasn't useless. His shoulder throbbed but he tested the limb taking care not to lift it over his head just yet. _Gonna be a bit before the swelling keeps it steady. Get your ass moving Dalton. You're a sitting duck here._ He thought. _Time to earn your pay son._

To be continued...

A/N: So, this was my first attempt at a bit of action. Did it work? Could you picture what was happening based on my descriptions? Anything confusing?  
I know a little about a lot but, I don't know satellites or what Riley could realistically do with a computer. Also, intercepting communications... Anybody with a scanner can do that except for 800 mHz. And certain frequencies. The chances the guys and any military comms could be intercepted is a bit far fetched as most would be encrypted but for the purposes of this story, they're stuck with the cheap unencrypted stuff. ;-) Hope you enjoyed.


	9. Chapter 9

A/N: Thank you all for the reviews and helpful tips. Dlwells51, thanks again for the assist, you'll find this chapter is a bit different in places since you've seen it. Hope there aren't too many mistakes in this one and the characters are still in character. ;-)

Warnings: Some bits of foul language. I'd say nothing explicit or too bad but I've been known to cuss like a sailor a time or two so, my opinion is a bit skewed. My apologies if there's anything in here that offends.

Disclaimer: Still don't own anything having to do with the show.

Chapter 9

Mac had watched the entire thing. The screen was filled with images in different shades of black and white, the warmest objects whiter than the cooler ones.

There was one white object that stood out above all the rest. Mac knew it was Jack. The red dot confirmed it. They had all watched the darker figure of the CIA agent being lowered from the tree. It was surreal. The infra red was detailed but not so much so that they could see ropes or individual small branches.

When Jack had fallen and then stopped it looked as though he was reaching to the sky. Mac had jumped out of his chair and stood in front of the screen. Riley gasped. "Oh my god." She said looking towards Bozer for confirmation that what she just saw was real. He was staring at the screen mouth agape.

Depth was difficult to discern but they could tell Jack was suspended above the ground when he started to swing from side to side. Mac knew exactly what Jack had planned.

He watched in desperation. He saw the rocks and watched as Jack held a long dark object. _Machete... He's gonna cut the rope._ Mac watched Jack swing, instantly calculating the optimal release point. _Not yet... not yet... now! Now Jack, now!_ Desperately, silently, trying to coach his friend. But Jack couldn't hear him. "No, wait!" He said out loud, stepping even closer to the screen. He watched as his friend hit the ground and curl up into a ball.

Mac looked at the others. The looks on their faces confirmed what he had just seen. Turning his gaze back to the screen he could see Jack was sitting up. "That's good, that's good." He whispered out loud to no one in particular. He watched as Jack bent his leg and put his arms out. "Dislocated shoulder" he turned and said to Matty.

Bozer trying to be positive asked, "how do you know Mac. Maybe he's just uh, taking a break? The CIA dude hasn't moved yet."

A flash of anger hit Mac. He turned to set Bozer straight but the sincerity on his friends face snuffed out his anger.

Mac walked back to the chair and sat down. "I've seen Jack reset his shoulder a few times, I know what it looks like."

Mac pointed to the screen, "The CIA agent is probably dead Boze, that's why he hasn't moved and Jack hasn't checked on him yet so..."

Concentrating on the image, dislocated shoulder aside, Mac desperately needed to know if Jack could move. _A leg injury could be a death sentence. Get up Jack... get up dammit!_ His inner voice was screaming.

As if he could hear Mac, Jack levered himself to his feet. He looked over to where Spooky Bob had landed. Lowering his head Jack made his way to the deceased agent.

He reached down and unclipped the small ruck pack.

Rolling the agent over, Jack began to go through the agents pockets, inspecting the contents and prioritizing items that could be left and things that absolutely had to be either disabled, buried or placed with his own equipment cache.

Jack pulled out the agent's tablet. The screen was cracked and the device wouldn't turn on. Holding the tablet up, "what'd I tell you? Can't rely on these things." He whispered accusingly to the dead man.

Jack continued to check the agent's gear, finding only one pistol and five mags, "You travel light partner. What were you planning on doing if the shit hit the fan?" Jack said quietly, checking the pistol.

He dropped the magazine and cleared the chamber. Jack dismantled the pistol breaking the spring. He kept the magazines and added them to his own vest. He checked the agents med kit. Finding the ibuprofen, Jack opened four of the blister packs. Popping the pills in his mouth, he reached to his shoulder, grabbed the camelback bite valve and washed the pills down. Securing the med kit, he placed it in his own ruck sack.

Jack looked around. There was a rock outcropping about fifty feet away. Standing up, he grit his teeth flexing his right hand. His shoulder and wrist had become stiff.

Jack slowly reached across his body with his right hand and undid the velcro straps that secured his vest, careful not to jar his shoulder. Sucking air through clenched teeth, he felt each rib and tried to take a deep breath. The action immediately caused him to cough.

It felt like someone had stabbed him in the side. Jack bent over cradling his side and dropped to one knee. Eyes squeezed tight he couldn't breathe. He knelt there for a few seconds getting his breathing under control and the pain shoved back. _Dammit that hurts!_ He thought. _What a cluster this turned into._ Finally able to take a breath and holding in a cough, he said to himself. _Come on Jack get your shit together. Time to suck it up._

Pep talk over, Jack stood securing his vest, pulling the velcro straps as tight as he could get them and still breathe. The vest helping with the pain in his ribs, he reached down and grabbed Bob's hand. "Sorry dude. This is gonna hurt me more than you." He whispered to the dead man.

Clenching his jaw, Jack dragged the body of the CIA agent towards the rock outcropping.

After hiding Bob as best as he could, Jack walked back to the tree. Walking around it he found enough of Bob's chute that was within arms reach. Thanking the stars, Jack reached up and pulled it down slowly. He did not want to get the cords tangled and have to climb the tree again.

The moon had come up providing beams of light through the canopy. Jack checked his watch, it had been over two hours since they'd jumped. Un tucking the shemagh scarf that was under his vest and wrapped around the back of his neck, Jack sat between two boulders and placed the scarf over his head and shoulders.

Safely concealed, Jack flipped up the night vision goggles and reached up to the light on his helmet turning it on. His makeshift tent concealing the red glow. Using the sat phone, he first marked the coordinates he had placed Bob, then he checked his position against his map. Marking his position and using his compass he figured he was about fifteen clicks away from the compound.

Jack studied the topo map noting the terrain between his position and the compound. There were a few drainages that looked fairly steep but they would provide better cover than the direct route along the ridge top.

His path marked and mentally catalogued Jack dialed the phone.

A robotic voice answered, 'You have reached the department of water resources our offices are closed right now. Please leave your name and phone number and we'll get back to you as soon as possible.' Jack waited after the beep for two clicks.

To the average person, it would have sounded like the call had been dropped. "Maverick 338." He said, waiting.

After just a few seconds he was rewarded with a live voice. 'Maverick sit rep.'

Mac watched the images on the screen, silently interpreting what he was seeing. _The CIA agent was definitely dead, Jack wouldn't drag a live person to the rocks._ He thought.

Jack was hurt, that much Mac knew. How bad was something he couldn't determine.

Watching all of this unfold without being able to communicate with his friend made Mac almost sick to his stomach. He sat in the chair staring at the screen, lost in thought when his view was blocked by Bozer.

"Here Mac, one of my world famous Dagwood sandwiches." Bozer said holding out the sub. Leaning to the side to get look around Bozer, Mac waved him off and mumbled, "I'm not hungry Boze."

Matty spoke up from the couch. "Remember what I said Blondie... eat or leave, that's the deal."

Frustrated by the interruption, Mac took the sandwich from Bozer. He studied the sandwich for a quick second before taking a huge bite. Chewing a couple of times, he washed it down with a gulp of water. Four bites and an entire bottle of water later, the sandwich was gone. He looked up defiantly at Matty.

She just shook her head. "What are you five?" She said eyebrows raised. "Never mind, don't answer that."

Riley set her sandwich down looking at her screen. "Jack's sat phone just went active, he might be making a call." She said excitedly. Matty looked at her phone. Nothing happened. "Can we listen to the call?"

"Not without knowing what satellite he's using." Riley said as she hit a few keys. "There's fifteen communications satellites he could be using, I could try to find the one he's on but it'll take a while."

Matty waved her hand. "Don't bother, by the time you find it he'll probably be done with the call. He's probably checking in with Langley. It is _their_ op." She said perturbed.

Mac just sat in the chair watching the screen. He looked down at his hands. One strapped to his chest. He mentally cursed the velcro monstrosity. Standing up he started to pace.

"Can the cartel intercept sat phones?" Bozer asked concerned.

"Well technically they could but they'd have to know what satellite the phone was using and I doubt they'd monitor all of them, that would take a lot of time and a lot of people to sort through all the code." Riley attempted to reassure her friends.

"Jack _will_ call right?" Riley asked.

Matty's phone buzzed. She picked it up recognizing the number. "Speak of the devil, Hey Jack."

Mac's head turned at the sound of his friends name. He practically sprint to Matty's side.

She put the phone on speaker. "Hey Boss. You remember our deal?"

She leaned forward. "I do Jack I can have them there in twelve hours."

Mac leaned forward toward the phone. "Jack, you ok? We watched a little on the screen but we're going to lose the feed in a while, we'll be dark here." Concern evident in his voice.

"Yeah, Mac. I'm alright mostly, got a little banged up on the uh... landing. Me and you might be on vacation for a while I think when this is over." Without elaborating, Jack continued.

"Hey Matty, this is turning into a regular cluster, Spooky's KIA, but the op's still a go. I'd like to get comms up with you guys. The uh... other guy's intelligence is anything but... If you know what I mean."

"What kind of gear did they give you Jack?" Riley asked.

"We were running simple two-way for ground comms. But other than that, it's all sat phone. I can run the sat phone through the system if you guys can give me a minute." He said grunting. "Gotta rearrange a few things. Call ya back."

Turning the helmet light off, and coming out from under the scarf, Jack removed the throat mic and ear piece, then his vest to get at the radio that was kept on the back.

Disconnecting everything and running the wires through the vest to reconfigure the set up went fairly quick. To test the system before donning the vest, he tried to contact Phoenix.

"Hey, you guys hear me?" Jacks voice quietly came over the sound system in the war room.

"We've got you Jack." Mac answered. Still hearing Jack's end of the transmission. "I think your mic is open. Jack?"

Jack satisfied he had communications, donned the vest grunting as he did so. "Yeah Mac, sorry about that. I can't use the radio so, I essentially made a hands free phone." He said a little breathlessly.

"Listen, I'd love to chat but I'm gonna be movin, no sense in you listening to me huff and puff my way up the hill." Jack cleared his throat.

"When you guys get the satellite back, give me a call and let me know if there's any bad guys around will ya." He said with a whisper voice.

"Alright Jack, we'll be in touch." Matty said as the line went dead.

"Matty, when this is over, I'm going with the exfil team." Mac said defiantly.

"We'll discuss it later Mac. Right now, we've lost the feed and other than watching a red dot on the screen there's nothing we can do."

All of us are going to take a break and you're going to get some rest. I've got a few phone calls to make." She said as she headed out the door.

Mac sat down and watched the red dot move. _Jack's hurt I can hear it in his voice_. He thought. "Riley can you get the topo up and send a copy of everything you sent Jack to the printer?" The topo map appeared on the screen.

 _Jack's moving at a decent speed, that's good._ Mac thought.

Bozer walked over to his friend. He held another pill out to Mac with another bottle of water. "Here, take this. Maybe it'll help you catch a couple of z's."

"I'm not going to sleep Bozer, _and_ I don't need another pill." Mac said quietly. "I'm going to sit here and just... watch. If Jack needs anything, he'll call. I want to be here."

Bozer held the pill out again. "The bottle says take one to two pills every four to six hours. I figure the less pain your in, the more you'll at least relax so when it's time to go get Jack you'll be ready."

Mac sighed. He sat up with a wince and grabbed the pill. Trying to open the water his wrist flared. Defeated, he held the bottle out to Bozer.

Without a word Bozer opened the bottle and handed it back, silently chastising himself for not thinking of opening the bottle for his friend.

Bozer returned to the couch and had just put his feet up on the table when Riley stood up. "I'm gonna go stretch my legs." She gave him a pointed look. "There's nothing I can do until the satellite comes back so..."

Bozer jumped up. "I'll go with you, I uh... you wanna go down to the lab with me. I have some molds I need to check on."

After they had both left, Mac had the room to himself. Besides the fan on Riley's computer, there was no sound in the room. The silence was deafening.

Mac studied the terrain, judging the speed of the dot and trying to determine what route Jack was going to take. _He's ok, he's still moving. He's still completing the mission... Of course he's completing the mission, that's what he does._

Feeling the affects of the _first_ pain pill, he sat back farther in the chair watching the dot. He closed his eyes imagining Jack making his way stealthily through the forest. _Jack is in his element,_ he told himself. _Right at home, armed to the teeth._

Matty walked in the war room, stopping as soon as she had cleared the door. She immediately turned around and walked back into the hall. Pulling her phone out, she sent a text to Riley and Bozer. _Mac is asleep. Do not return to the war room for at least an hour._

Jack was making good time according to his map. _Just keep at it Jack. You can stop when you get there._ He thought, putting one foot in front of the other. Watching the terrain and occasionally stopping to check his position. The M4 slung across his chest helpfully doubling as a support for his shoulder. Knowing he had comms with his friends was comforting.

Jack kept moving, alert to anything out of the ordinary. When he was training for Delta, Jack had learned to keep his mind occupied and pay attention to his surroundings at the same time. He once told Mac it was his mental version of a walk and talk, sort of like having an audio book playing in the background. It helped to take his mind off of how tired or sore he was.

Jack knew Mac was upset. _Kid's probably beating himself up for not being able to be here. One of these days, he's gonna have to learn there are just some things in life he can't control. Hell, if I had it my way he'd be stuck in the van with Riley wrapped in bubble wrap surrounded by a freaking force field. It'd be nice to have him here though._

Jack reached the base of a hill, stopping his mental musings.

The trees didn't look right. Throughout the night, he'd become acclimated to the natural vegetation and the sounds of the night. Stopping, he knelt down bringing the rifle up using the magnifying power of the optics to carefully inspect the area above.

The trees had been thinned and halfway up the hill he could see what looked like a game trail. Looking to his left, there was a small rocky drainage.

The moon had long since been blocked out by the clouds that had moved in. Jack could feel the temperature dropping slightly.

Making his way over to the rocky drainage he found an area that he could take a break and study his map.

Placing the scarf over his head again, he pulled the map out checking his location. Studying the terrain a bit more, he decided he could go up the draw and cut over the top of the ridge, avoiding the trail.

His route set, he started to make his way up. The drainage looked like it had been cut out of the side of the hill. Looking up, Jack tried to imagine how much water it would have taken to create the drainage. Roots were exposed on each side and the bottom was a mixture of loose gravel and sharp bedrock.

The climb was going slow. Jack had to reach out to grab hand holds in a few spots to get up the steep dry waterfalls, each time pulling painfully at his ribs.

By the time he had reached the top he was out of breath. His ribs and shoulder were on fire. _No time to stop, got to get to cover,_ he thought. Moving silently he made his way to a stand of trees.

Once there he stopped and kneeled, trying to catch his breath while looking over the area. The drainage had led him to the top of a hill. There was a clearing and Jack could see a tower or some other tall structure in the center.

The cloud cover had blocked out all of the moonlight. Normally he would prefer to be working in complete darkness, it had it's advantages. But, when it came time to recon a potential hard target... Having a bit of light would have been ideal.

So far he hadn't seen any wide trails or roads to indicate people had been there. Staying in the trees Jack stealthily made his way around the clearing.

 _It's an antenna or a repeater site._ He thought, looking up, _Solar powered, hmm._

Jack moved, rifle at the ready, eyes constantly scanning the ground in front of him. Years of training and experience, analyzing the slightest disturbances in the ground, determining in a split second if it was safe path. _If this belongs to who I think it does... Better watch your ass Jack._ He reminded himself.

Once he reached the tower, he turned and scanned the tree line. With no threats detected, he turned his attention back to the tower.

Jack didn't know exactly what the tower did, but what he did know was, no electronic device could work without wires. Silently he removed a pair of wire cutters from his vest and began to cut the smaller wires, leaving the thicker ones alone.

 _No sense in getting myself electrocuted,_ he thought. _If Mac were here he'd know exactly what these wires did._

Jack wasn't going to risk calling Mac. Being out in the open was exposure enough.

Wires cut, Jack left the tower and went back to the trees. _That's the most productive thing that's happened on this entire damn mission..._ He told himself. _Or I just wiped out everybody's cable._ He thought.

Checking his watch. He had lost time climbing up the draw and disabling the tower. The most direct route to the compound, was across the ridge he was currently on. _If the cloud cover holds out, I'm sticking to the ridge top. No more drainages, definitely not one of my better ideas._

Starting off toward the compound sticking to the trees as much as he could, Jack stopped every now and then to listen and check his position.

Bozer and Riley tip toed into the war room. Mac was still asleep, slouched in the chair.

Bozer cringed at the sight. _His neck is going to be stiff sleeping like that._ He thought.

Riley and Bozer looked at the big screen. Jack had definitely covered some ground. The track was a series of zig zags then it back tracked, circled a ridge top and continued away from the top of the mountain to where the dot was currently moving.

Mac stirred but didn't wake. He was mumbling. Riley and Bozer shared a glance. Bozer shrugged his shoulders as if to answer Riley's questioning look. Neither one could decide if they should wake him up.

 _Jack was running. Mac could see him but every time he tried to call out, his voice came out as a whisper. No matter how hard he tried he couldn't get Jacks attention._

 _Jack turned around and was shooting. Bullets were flying all around him and he fell._

 _Mac tried to step forward, but he couldn't move. Jack got up and began running again. Mac's view changed from ground level to an aerial view. He could still see Jack but now, he could also see the men chasing him. They had M16's and machetes._

 _There was a cliff in front of Jack. The men chasing Jack were going to catch up to him when he reached the cliff. Mac was yelling at Jack to go right but Jack kept heading for the cliff. The men kept shooting. Jack fell again. No! Mac yelled. His heart was racing._

 _He looked at the other men. They were still coming. Get up Jack! Mac tried to yell. It was as if he had no vocal chords he couldn't yell loud enough._

 _Jack got up again and kept running. He reached the edge of the cliff and went over._

 _Jack! Mac tried to yell. He was standing just within an arms reach of Jack._

 _Jack looked up and smiled a bloody smile and then winked at him. He put his hand out toward Mac but Mac couldn't reach him. No matter how hard he tried his arm was too short._

 _He looked down at his arm and it was shorter than the other. The top half of his arm was stuck to his side and the only thing he could extend was his forearm. He strained and struggled to reach Jack. Finally he felt his arm move. A white hot pain erupted and Jack disappeared. Jack!_

Riley and Bozer watched Mac, his breathing was becoming faster. The hand that was strapped into the brace flexed.

When Bozer realized Mac was trying to fight against the brace in his sleep he started to make his way over to his friend.

Before Bozer reached him Mac's eyes flew open and he sat up abruptly clutching his shoulder. "Jack!" He said through clenched teeth. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry." He started rocking back and forth.

Bozer put a hand on Macs shoulder. Mac looked up and confusion crossed his face. Taking in his surroundings, he wiped the moisture from his eyes and turned to the screen. There was a Jacks red dot still moving.

"Mac, it's ok bro." Bozer reassured.

"Where is he?" Mac asked looking at Riley trying to compose himself.

Riley walked to her computer a few key strokes later and the map view changed. Jack was almost to the clearing around one of the long metal buildings that was on the outskirts of the supposed compound.

Mac ran a hand down his face still trying to shake the nightmare. "When do we get satellite coverage again?"

Riley checked her screen and looked at her watch. "We've actually had satellite coverage the whole time. Problem is, it's night and even when it becomes light out the cloud cover is going to be a problem. The Chinese satellite won't be back around for another hour and IR won't help with the clouds. I don't know if Matty can get the Predator back."

"We're blind" Mac said to no one in particular.

Matty walked back into the room. She took in Mac's appearance. _He looks worse than he did before his nap._ "Where's our boy?" She asked the group.

Mac cleared his throat and pointed to the screen. "He's almost to one of the buildings."

To be continued...

A/N: Well, the entire communications fiasco kind of drove me nuts. I finally decided to punt and just make something up. Hope it worked out ok. As for resetting a dislocated shoulder... The move Jack makes only works in certain cases. Don't try this at home. ;-)

As always, please feel free to point out any mistakes. Grammar, punctuation, continuity. This chapter had a lot of rewrites and every time I read it, I found something to fix. I think I got everything, but you never know. I've read other authors comment on their stories that every now and then they get to a particular point in their story that was hard to write or it just stalled. I found that with this chapter. I've moved on and have a couple more chapters written so, hopefully I've gotten over the chapter nine hump and it's smooth sailing from here.

Hope you enjoyed.


	10. Chapter 10

A/N: Thank you for the reviews. Continuing the action in this one. There are a couple of parts in this that I'm thinking might be a bit out of character for a few of our friends, let me know what you think. Dlwells51, this is going to be all new material for you, I really hope you enjoy. As always, please point out any mistakes and let me know if I need to make any changes.

Warnings: None really, a bit of foul language every now and then.

Disclaimer: I don't own anything having to do with the show.

Chapter 10

0-0-0

Jack could see the building. He stopped, studying every detail, listening for any sound that didn't belong.

It was a long metal building that looked like it belonged on a farm, not in the middle of a forest. _If this belongs to the cartel, probably used to store drugs... or make 'em._ He thought.

 _Decision time dude. Check it out or go around._ He said to himself. His mind made up, he stealthily made his way to the side of the building.

Shadowing the wall of the building, Jack stopped just before reaching the front corner. Crouching low, he slowly looked around the corner. There were two large sliding doors. _Big enough to fit a truck through._ He thought.

Staying crouched at the corner, Jack listened for any signs of life inside the building. After a few minutes convinced he was alone he made his way to the door. There were no locks that he could see. _Guess a cartel doesn't have to worry about thieves._

Letting the M4 hang from the shoulder strap and un holstering his pistol, he reached up and grabbed the sliding door.

Pistol at the ready, Jack opened the door just enough to slip through, crouching he entered the building hugging the wall, instantly scanning the interior for any threats.

There were large canvas bales stacked to the ceiling on one side and wooden crates stacked on the other.

Jack recognized the crates. _Somebody's got quite the collection going on here._ He thought, slowly making his way to the familiar wooden boxes.

Jack looked around the building. _No windows._

Flipping the night vision up and clicking on his helmet light, he inspected the writing on the crates. _These are U.S. Weapons crates. M16 SCAR rifles, grenades, 60mm mortars. What the hell?_ Holstering his sidearm, Jack pulled a small notepad out of his vest and started writing down the lot numbers on the crates.

It would take too much time to write down every lot number, so Jack opted to write down a single lot number for each of the different weapons. Once he finished with that, he moved to the canvas covered bales.

Picking a random bale, Jack lifted the cover. Under the canvas there were stacks of smaller burlap wrapped bales. Jack suspected he knew what it was, but for confirmation, he pulled his knife out and stuck a bale. Pulling the blade out confirmed his suspicions.

Jack wiped the knife off on his pants and sheathed it. He looked at the number of bales lining the wall and taking up half of the building. _There must be ten tons of coke here. Winning the war on drugs, my ass._

Jack put the tarp back as he had found it. Making his way back to the door, he turned off the light and flipped down the night vision. Slowly opening the door he scanned the area. Deciding it was clear, Jack headed back to the trees.

Finding a depression in the ground on the downhill side away from the building, Jack covered his head and checked the satellite photo Riley had sent. He compared the printed satelite photo to his map.

There was an identical shaped shed two hundred yards away. Jack marked the position of the first building, and headed for the second.

The second was full of more of the same, with the addition of a crates full of body armor, tactical vests, RPG's and tens of thousands of rounds of ammunition. Some of which didn't fit the weapons systems he had seen so far.

Looking around the building his eyes found what he was hoping wasn't there.

There was a stack of crates toward the back of the building, a shape which Jack had only seen a few times in his career. _There is no way in the world these guys could get their hands on these without somebody either in the military or..._ Jack didn't want to think it, but, some of his missions with the CIA had involved arming indigenous people. _But that was with basic weapons, not..._ He pried open the top crate. _Sons of bitches have freaking XM25's!_ He went back to the ammunition crates looking for a specific type Of round.

Behind a pallet full of 5.56 ammunition, he found it. Cases of 25mm air burst and armor piercing rounds. _Drug cartel my ass!_ He thought. _These guys have enough gear here to outfit a damn Army._ Jack had seen enough.

He needed to get this intel back to Phoenix. He was way over his head on this one and the fact that these guys had XM25's, affectionately known as 'The Punisher.' Jack wasn't sure if he could trust the CIA. _Somebody supplied this stuff and whoever it was had to be somebody with some clout._ _Delta couldn't even get their hands on these things without waiting six months for the paperwork runaround._ He put everything back as he had found it and left the second building heading back to the trees.

Jack headed down the hill farther away from the buildings. He needed better cover for what was sure to be a long conversation.

He was making his way down the hill when Mother Nature decided to make her presence known. _Well that's just great, just one more thing to add to an already screwed up mission._ Jack thought.

While the heavy downpour provided cover and could mask sound, it made maneuvering around the countryside a very wet, very slippery, slimy affair. One that Jack was definitely not enjoying. _I freaking hate the rain man._

Jack spotted a cluster of boulders a little farther down the steep hill. As he got closer inspecting the formation for a hiding spot the hill got steeper.

Turning sideways, using roots and boulders for footholds, Jack was almost to the main body of the rock formation. He planted his left foot on a small boulder. Before he knew it the rock slid out from under his foot and he was going down. Instinctively he bent his right leg and put his right arm out to catch himself as if sliding into a base. His shoulder and ribs flaring.

Jack tried to dig his left heel into the slippery soil to stop his descent reaching out, trying to grab anything he could. The hill was becoming steeper and Jack was starting to panic. He had no idea what was at the bottom. His left foot caught on a root. As soon as he felt the resistance he dug his right knee and elbow into the ground shifting his upper body to vertical, feeling the familiar 'pop' in his shoulder. Now upright, taking a few precarious stumbling steps while trying to keep his balance, Jack finally came to a stop.

Breaths coming in gasps, Jack held his shoulder and looked back up the hill. His downhill slide had cleared the leaves and twigs leaving a clear trail to where he had finally stopped.

Jack slowly inched his way over to a stand of trees ten yards away.

Reaching the trees, he sat on the uphill side planting his feet against the base of a large tree. He lay back taking a minute to compose himself. He raised his head he looked down at his thigh. Miraculously his sidearm was still in the holster.

 _Alright Dalton you've stalled long enough._ Gritting his teeth and taking short breaths through his nose, he sat up with a groan.

Jack bent his knee and repeated the process of putting his shoulder back into the socket. He sat back and lay on the ground, wanting to scream.

 _What the hell am I doing here, God damned CIA... that's what you're doing here you idiot._ He chastised himself. He lay there for a few minutes contemplating his situation.

He was tired, wet, and in pain. Taking a minute for himself, he started thinking of all the other things he'd rather be doing and places he'd rather be at the moment.

As he was ticking off his list of places he'd rather be, he thought about his dad and what he would say. Jack closed his eyes, taking calming breaths. _He'd say get up off your ass and do your damn job, that's what he'd say. All those other places you'd rather be, and all those other things you'd rather be doing, are for civilians. And civilians can only do those things because soldiers keep doing their job no matter what. Now get up out of the damn mud and get back to work._

Jack sat up, turned and looked up the hill. Grunting he gingerly got to his feet. "Alright, time to suck it up buttercup." He mumbled.

Jack still needed to find cover to send the intel but his tree sanctuary was too close to the path he had left while sliding down the hill. _Jesus Jack, a blind man could follow that trail. Better get your A game back dude or you're gonna get your butt killed out here._

His personal pep talk over, Jack started to slowly make his way back up the hill. This time taking the terrain at a diagonal. _It's gonna take longer but it's better than sliding all the way down to the river on your ass. Un freaking believable,_ he shook his head. _Good thing Mac wasn't here, I'd never hear the end of it._

 _Gonna be light soon, get your butt movin boy._

 _0-0-0_

"I've got the satellites coming up. I don't know how much good they'll do because of the clouds but..." Riley shrugged.

"Let's see it." Mac stared at the big screen.

The image that appeared on the screen was... nothing but clouds.

"What's the weather supposed to do?" Matty asked without turning from the screen. The screen was filled with an overlapping layer of a radar image. A large swath of red, yellow and orange was moving straight across the entire area.

The image zoomed out and the tail end of the storm could be seen.

Bozer stepped up to the screen. "Can you put the storm track up and run a loop my rainy day girl?" He smiled.

Riley glared and started typing.

The image changed. A cone shaped symbol appeared and the storm moved across the screen repeating every ten seconds.

Bozer pointed at various spots on the image. "It looks like this cell is going to move over the area heading toward the south. It's going to bring some very heavy precipitation, so there is probably going to be small stream flooding with the chance of flash floods. It's moving at about fifteen miles an hour and should be clear of the area within the next thirty minutes."

When he stopped talking, Matty, Riley and Mac were all staring at him. Matty squinted staring at the screen then back to Bozer. "And you know that how?" She asked disbelieving.

Bozer smiled "I worked at a news station once."

Mac coughed and cleared his throat. "Bozer, you delivered their lunches."

Bozer looked embarrassed."Yeah, but it was always during the noon news when they did the weather, I picked up a few things." He shrugged and smiled.

Matty looked perturbed. "Well either way, Bozer isn't wrong about one thing. The storm is going to move through."

 _Finally_ , Mac thought. _We might be able to see what's going on._ _The track that Jack's taking isn't making any sense._ _He went up the hill then down the hill now he's going back up the hill?_

 _Unless he's not alone and had to hide, maybe trip wires or IED's? But if that was the case he wouldn't be moving the direction he's taking. Going diagonal along the hillside isn't the most efficient way._

 _0-0-0_

Jack could see the ridge. The best he figured was he was past the location of the second building he had checked.

If he kept going he should come up on a smaller building he'd seen in the photo's. It looked to be half the size of the other two buildings.

There was no real good place to stop and make a call that he could see yet. _Head up and take a look, or keep going onto the main buildings? Got no cover here... Screw it, go take a look._

 _The way this night's been going there's probably a freaking M1 tank in there._ He grinned to himself. _That'd make my job easy. Just Hotwire the damn thing and blow this whole place and the bad guys off the face of the earth._

Five minutes later Jack was laying on his belly scouting the area around the building. _Power pole, chain link fence, razor wire._ This was the first sign of any security measures and utilities he'd come across. _Got a road maybe?_

The antenna he had disabled had its own solar and the other two buildings didn't have any sign of power going to them, or a road. _Must be flying the stuff into those other buildings._ He thought.

 _Well this is a whole new animal, can't_ _see shit for detail till this rain lets up._ Pulling the velcro cover off of his watch he cupped the lens. Should be getting light here in a bit.

Lightning flashed in the sky. Jack flinched, quickly glancing up at the sky, he just shook his head. "What else you got?" He said to the air defiantly.

Thunder rolled and the rain started coming down in sheets obscuring the building. "Sorry I asked." He said apologetically.

He lay there getting soaked. He could risk using the rain as cover, but if there were any alarms or motion detectors, as slim as that may be, he'd rather not risk it. _Sit, wait and... don't drown._ He thought.

0-0-0

Jack hadn't moved. Riley was alternating between the Doppler map, the satellites, and his location.

"Riley, how about we just stick to one screen, it's making Bozer nauseous." Matty said.

Bozer looked up wide eyed at Matty then towards Riley. Shaking his head, he raised his hands. "I didn't say anything, I've been enjoying the uh, change of scenery."

Riley rolled her eyes and hit a key. The radar turned off on the big screen.

Bozer watched the screen waiting for something to happen. "How come he's not moving?"

Riley added Jack's previous tracks leading up to his location. "Because it's pouring," Mac answered. "Riley can you pull up the regular map and zoom in on the area."

She did as requested. Mac studied the image. Pointing to an area near the building "Can you zoom in here?" He scrutinized every detail. "If that's what I think it is, Jack should stay put."

"Why? What do you see Blondie?" Matty asked as she studied the image.

"It looks like the fence may be energized. I can't quite tell but..." He pointed a section of fence on the opposite side of the building from Jack. "You see this box here? If that's what I think it is, anything that touches that fence would be electrocuted."

Jack had been lying in the mud for what seemed like an eternity. The rain was still coming down in sheets. His decision made, he moved back down the hill, being careful where he was going not wanting a repeat of his earlier descent.

He pulled the now soaked scarf up over his helmeted head and dug the sat phone out of his vest.

0-0-0

"Where's he going now?" Bozer asked. He'd been watching Jacks tracks all night. "It seems like he's just been going back and forth covering the same ground all night long."

Mac looked at his friend, "It's not like he's just taking a walk Boze, there could be patrols, mines, cameras, trip wires, any number of things in the area."

"Damn," Bozer commented.

"The intel on this was terrible." Mac shot a look towards Matty.

Matty sighed. "I didn't order him to go, oversight did. This is a CIA op remember." She pursed her lips.

Riley looked at the screen. She suddenly felt a wave of guilt. The monotony of punching keys all night, doing things that she could do in her sleep, had desensitized her to the seriousness of the situation.

Suddenly remembering she wasn't just watching a red dot on the screen, She dropped her head said a silent prayer for Jack's safe return.

Matty's phone buzzed. She looked at the number, answering immediately. "Jack?" She put the phone on speaker.

 _"Hey boss."_ He said quietly. _"I've got some intel to pass on but I don't want to run it by Langley. It might be nothin, but I don't know what to think or who to trust over there right now."_

Mac stepped forward. "Jack, that building you're next to has an electrified fence, don't touch it ok?"

Jack coughed, followed by a strained, _"dammit."_

"Jack? Did you hear me" Mac asked concerned.

Jack cleared his throat. _"Thanks Mac, yeah, I'll check it out after this monsoon ends. You guys got any idea when that's supposed to happen?"_

"It should let up in twenty minutes or so Jack." Riley piped in.

 _"Glad to hear it, I was thinking of building an ark."_ He joked.

 _"Listen, Matty, I need you to check on a few things for me."_ All seriousness returning to his voice.

"Alright Jack go ahead, what do you need?" Matty asked wondering what it could be.

 _"I checked out two of the buildings just to the north of my position. These guys have an entire stockpile of current U.S. weapons. I've got lot numbers I need you to look up, see where they came from."_

"Sure thing Jack, I can place a few phone calls and have Riley see what she can dig up." Matty picked up her phone and walked to the couch sitting beside Riley. She nodded at her and Riley confirmed she was ready for the information.

 _"Yeah, sounds good but hey, this isn't your regular infantry stuff we're talkin here. They've got freakin sixty millimeter mortars and would you believe it, XM25's?"_

Mac didn't think he heard right. "Did you say XM25's Jack?"

 _"Affirm Mac, freaking Punisher's."_ They heard Jack cough again followed by what could be best described as growling.

"Jack, You ok?" Mac asked.

Jack didn't answer right away. When he finally came back on the line, his words sounded strained. _"Yeah, just been laying down too long. I gotta get movin pretty soon. Ready to copy numbers?"_ He said, eyes closed, ribs aching.

"Go ahead Jack." Matty said.

Jack read off the weapon type and lot numbers.

When he finished, he told Matty he wanted to get a little more intel on the building above his position and that she should push his exfil back an additional twenty four hours.

It wasn't something Mac wanted to hear. "Jack, I don't think that's a good idea. You're hurt, I can tell, and with those kinds of weapons it seems there may be something going on there that has more to do with something other than drug trafficking."

 _"That's exactly why I'm gonna stay and find out what I can. And I'm fine. A little wet and tired I admit... but fine."_ Jack said reassuringly.

"I don't believe that for one minute Jack and you know it." Mac accused.

 _"Well, you're right Mac, If I'm being completely honest... I'm freaking starving too."_ Jack tried to put his friend at ease. Knowing it wouldn't work, but it made him feel better. There was no way he was going to call it quits and he needed to get that through to Mac.

 _"Mac If these weapons make it outa here, there's no telling where they may end up. Hell, they could be supplying Isis for all we know."_ Jack paused letting his words sink in. _"I haven't even checked half the buildings yet. You'd do the same, if you were here Dude."_ Jack said trying to make his point.

Matty seeing that this back and forth would just keep going stepped in. "Alright Jack, we'll get as much info as we can. In the mean time, you be careful and check in when you can ok?"

 _"If it's all the same to you, I'm gonna leave the comms open for a bit."_ Jack said. _"I'm not sure what I'm dealing with here and might need some help figuring out this electrical system."_

Mac became more alert. "That sounds good Jack. We'll be listening. Just tell me what you see and I can come up with something to..."

 _"Whoa! Slow down there partner. I haven't even got my butt up to the building yet dude." Lemme get there first before you tell me how to hotwire the flux capacitor."_

"Right, sorry Jack." Mac apologized, mentally preparing himself for whatever Jack would need. _Take a breath, settle down, give him a chance to work._

They could hear Jack breathing and an occasional grunt. Mac watched the screen. The terrain Jack was moving along was fairly steep.

 _"Oh, hey, I disabled some kind of tower. Thinkin' it's probably a radio antenna or repeater site."_ Jack spoke softly voice strained.

"Yeah, we marked three of them. We've got your track so we know which one it is." Mac confirmed.

 _"You're following my track?"_ Jack asked, wondering if they could figure out he slid down the hill.

Mac knew that tone in Jack's voice. "Yeah Jack, we've been tracking you... Why?" He asked suspiciously.

 _"No reason, can't talk now, gotta keep it down."_ Jack said hurriedly

 _He's hiding something,_ Mac thought. Not wanting to give away Jack's position, Mac honored the request for silence, under protest of course.

After that, there wasn't anything to talk about.

The room was quiet, the only noise coming from Riley's computer and Jack's comm.

Bozer had moved to sit next to Riley. He leaned toward her and whispered. "What's a punisher?"

Riley pointed to her screen. There were several pages open all of which were weapons of some sort. She leaned towards Bozer and whispered. "According to this, it's a nasty piece of work. It's basically a rifle that can shoot air burst ammunition up to seven hundred meters. Apparently it doesn't take a lot of training to be accurate, and it shoots other ammunition too. Armor piercing for one."

Bozer let out a small whistle. "That's what's in those buildings?"

Riley raised her eyebrows and nodded yes. "Among other things."

The noise coming from Jack's comm was getting louder. They could still hear him, but it sounded like someone was rattling a bag of aluminum cans in the background. The dot stopped. Jack was still in the trees just outside of the fence.

 _"Alright kids,"_ Jack whispered. _"Comin up on the building. Mac, I got a big line comin off the power pole going to the building. I can see the control box to the fence. Or at least I think that's what it is. Not gonna be able to get at it, it's inside the wire."_

They heard a grunt and Jack's dot moved. _"I'm gonna get a better look around this place. Hang on."_

"Jack, what kind of gate's there?" Mac asked.

 _"Got about a ten foot sliding gate. Looks automatic, I can see the control box, chain driven looks like. Cant see any kind of lock."_

"Can you reach the chain Jack? _Without_ , touching the fence?" Mac asked forming a plan in his mind.

 _"Yeah, I think so but It's metal, man. I like getting a buzz from beer dude, not electricity."_

Mac smiled. "You shouldn't get shocked, as long as you don't touch the wires in the fence. The metal fence posts actually act as a ground, so the entire fence isn't hot, but there should be wires running through it. Those are hot. Just reach in and grab the chain Jack. Just watch for wires, don't touch those."

 _"Ok, if you say so dude. So what am I supposed to do once I grab the chain, and don't get electrocuted?"_ Jack asked keeping his voice low.

"See if you can pull the chain to open the gate." Mac said making it sound easy.

 _"Alright, just give me a minute or two, still gotta check the other side of the building. Don't see any motion detectors or cameras yet, but I wanna make sure. Be right back."_ Jack said as if Mac was right there with him.

They listened to Jack moving. The sound of the rain hitting the metal roof of the building fading in and out.

A few minutes later, Jack's dot was back at the gate. _"Ok, I'm back, didn't see any other security measures. You sure about this chain thing Mac? I mean I trust you and all, but getting electrocuted twice in one year is not on my bucket list."_

"Yeah, Jack. I'm sure just, don't touch the fence, or the gate." Mac said, Jacks previous attempt at humor lost on him at the moment.

A minute passed. Jack hadn't said anything and all they could hear was an occasional grunt and exhalation of air.

"Jack?" Mac asked waiting for a response. In his mind he knew that if Jack had been electrocuted they would have heard it. But the silence was still unsettling.

A strained, _"yeah, just... give me a..."_ Came through the speakers. _"Huh, I'll be damned. Hey Mac, it worked."_ The strain was gone from Jack's voice.

Mac smiled.

Matty didn't share their enthusiasm. "Alright Jack, go check it out and then get out of there. We're still trying to track those weapons. So far, no luck."

 _"You got it boss. I got a door. Don't see any locks. Hard to tell if there's any footprints around here, I've seen less mud in a pig wallow."_ Jack continued to narrate what he was looking at, trying to paint a clear picture.

 _"Doesn't look abandoned, the vegetation hasn't grown over."_ He said quietly. _"I'm goin' in."_

"Be careful Jack." Mac said worried.

 _"Don't worry Mac, you know me... Safety third."_ Jack said light heartedly.

Mac's pulse had quickened, unconsciously holding his breath, he listened to Jack's transmission trying to hear every detail. It was still raining and the noise of the rain on the metal roof got louder.

Jack opened the door, gun at the ready. It took a split second for Jack to scan the inside of the building. _"What the hell?"_ He entered the building quickly closing the door behind him.

Mac heard the surprise in Jack's voice. "Jack?"

There was no answer and Jack's dot disappeared from the screen.

"Dalton! Sit rep!" Matty looked to Riley. "What happened?"

Riley was typing furiously. "I don't know, we lost the signal. Maybe it has something to do with the building."

Mac looked to Riley, desperation in his voice. "We need that satellite feed!"

"What do you want me to do? I can't make the clouds go away!" Riley said defensively.

Mac started to pace rubbing the back of his neck. All manner of things that could have gone wrong running through his head. _What if we get the satellite feed back up and the building is gone?_ He was starting to panic. He had to remind himself, _Jack knows what he's doing, he would look for trip wires. He's good at his job._

 _0-0-0_

Jack looked around, the inside of the building was completely empty. _"Did not see that coming,"_ he muttered. _"Hey, this place is completely empty, doesn't make sense."_

When there was no response, Jack checked the sat phone. It was still on but he hadn't heard anything. "Hey, you guys copy?" When there was no answer, Jack sighed. _Dammit_.

Looking around inside the building, something on the floor caught his eye. Walking to the back of the building he looked down to find a large rectangular metal door, flush with the concrete floor.

Double checking to make sure there were no windows in the building, Jack reached up and clicked the helmet light on. The beam of red light highlighting the door. Jack flipped up his night vision. He rubbed his eyes for a second before inspecting the door.

 _No trip wires I can see_. He thought. Jack grabbed one of the handles and gave a slight tug. The door was heavy.

Holstering his pistol, he grabbed the other handle and threw the door open. His plan was to throw the door open and quickly draw his sidearm.

His shoulder had other ideas. As soon as he reached down to draw the weapon, a stabbing pain flared in his shoulder. Exposed, he immediately stepped back drawing the secondary pistol from his vest with his left hand.

Now armed, he stepped forward looking down the open hatch. There was a ladder attached to the wall that went down about fifteen feet. From his vantage point, he could see a tunnel heading south. _What have we here?_ He thought _._

Jack closed the hatch and headed toward the door.

Shoulder still throbbing, Jack carefully reached toward the door handle. He cracked it open looking outside. Pistol at the ready. Seeing it was clear, he stepped out into the rain. _"Hey, you guys hear me?"_

"Jack!" Mac practically yelled. "What happened, you ok, we lost comms, what'd you find?" Mac rapid fired.

 _"Yeah, noticed that. Must have something to do with the building_." Jack confirmed. _"This place is empty which doesn't make sense. What with the security, but I found a tunnel_."

Matty stepped forward. "What kind of tunnel?"

 _"Can't tell what it's for but it's pretty good size and lined with concrete as far as I can tell."_ Jack paused _. "I'm gonna go back and do a little recon, find out how far it goes."_

"Alright Jack, watch your ass." Matty said.

"Wait! This is crazy, Jack. Just get out of there. We can pass on the information to Langley and they can send a team in." Mac glared at Matty.

 _"I would love to do just that Mac but I'm here now. And part of this mission was to do recon. None of this is gonna show up on satellite or infrared, I'll be damned if I'm gonna turn tail and run."_

"It's not running Jack. You've found the weapons and the tunnel. That's enough!" Mac said pleadingly.

 _"Dammit Mac, if I take off now, the next poor schmuck they send to do my job is gonna be in the same boat. Crap for intel... Probably get killed and it would be my fault. I am not gonna let that happen. Can't and you know it."_ Jack said sternly _._

"But..." Mac realized there was no changing Jack's mind. Deep down he knew Jack was right.

 _"I get it dude. Wish you were here too."_ Jack said _. "I'm gonna go do a quick recon and I'll be back in a flash."_ Jack said reassuring _. "Headed back in, gonna lose comms, talk to ya in a bit."_

"Be careful Jack." Riley chimed in just before his transmission went silent.

To be continued...

A/N: Hope you enjoyed this chapter.

The electric fence... it's sort of correct. I took a bit of creative license with that one, didn't want to write an entire paper on how they work or how to force an automatic gate realistically.

Gib


	11. Chapter 11

A/N: Thank you for the kind reviews. A huge shout out to Dlwells51 for taking a look at this last minute and suggesting some excellent changes.

Also a giant thank you to WinonaRose for pointing out a major plot flaw. I think the fix works, let me know.

The action picks up here, that being said, action I've found is hard to write. I know exactly what it looks like in my head, but trying to put it on paper is definitely a challenge. Fun and frustrating all at the same time. Let me know if something seems off or if you find any mistakes please.

 **Warning: There is violence happening here. If you've ever watched an episode of CSI where they do the crime reenactment... It's at about that level with guns.**

Disclaimer: I own nothing having to do with the show.

Chapter 11

0-0-0

Mac was angry. Angry with the CIA for hastily putting together a mission package that wasn't thought out.

Angry with 'oversight' for loaning Jack out like he was a piece of property.

Angry with Matty for letting Jack go, and finally, he was angry with Jack for well... Being Jack.

Not just angry, furious with himself, for feeling powerless and useless.

He looked around the room.

Matty was seated on the other side of the room sending messages on her phone.

Riley was still working on her computer trying to find out where the weapons came from.

Bozer was sitting next to her watching.

Not being able to see or hear what was going on wasn't what they were used to.

 _We always have communications._ Mac thought. _Even if we lose them, we usually find a way._

 _That's the problem, there's always a 'we'._ Realization hit Mac. He couldn't just sit there. He had to do something but there wasn't anything he could do.

Standing up suddenly, he headed for the door.

Matty looked up but didn't comment.

Riley stopped typing and Bozer looked up. "Mac, where ya going?"

Bozer moved to get up and follow. Mac raised a hand, effectively stopping Bozer.

On his way out the door, Mac hit the glass frosting the room.

He walked down the hallway then finally stopped. He leaned his back against the wall, trying to breath, he let himself slide down the wall until he was sitting on the floor.

It was too much. Everything that had happened since he arrived at Phoenix this morning had been out of his control.

Sitting against the wall, he leaned his head back and closed his eyes. _Damn you Jack. You're not supposed to be doing this kind of Lone wolf stuff anymore._ Mac thought. _What were you thinking? You should have scrubbed the mission as soon as Rutherford got killed. But no, you had to be the good soldier and follow orders. Now look at you, going down a damn tunnel with no back-up._

Exhaustion, pain and the emotional roller coaster he'd been on, catching up with him, his body felt heavy, as if he would melt into the floor, all his strength gone. He sat eyes closed, wishing this was another drug induced nightmare.

Mac didn't know how long he had been there, when he felt a hand on his shoulder.

Looking up, he was greeted by Matty. Her concern evident by the look on her face.

"You ok Mac?" She asked sincerely.

He quickly wiped His face and moved to get up off the floor. He cleared his throat, "uh... yeah, I'm fine."

Matty's hand didn't move from his shoulder. "Stay there for a minute Mac."

Her hand falling away, she leaned back against the wall. "It never gets easier."

Mac looked at her brow furrowed.

"Every time I send agents out into the field, all I can do is sit back and watch." She said somberly.

"Matty, I..." Mac was cut off by a wave of her hand.

"Oh, I can make phone calls and order resources, most of the time... But when it comes down to it, I really have no control over what happens." She paused as if gathering her thoughts.

"Thing is Blondie, even though I have no control over what happens, I have to believe that the agents I send out are the _best_ at what they do. If I didn't, I would end up out here in the hall on a daily basis." She let her words sink in.

Matty sighed. "Jack is a lot of things, but when it comes to being a soldier... He's one of the best."

"I know that Matty, but..." Mac couldn't find the words.

"But nothing," Matty said sternly. "I've known him a lot longer than you and I've seen him get in and out of some pretty impossible situations. This is his comfort zone Mac, he's smart and won't take any unnecessary risks."

That elicited a snort from Mac. He looked up at Matty. "You don't know him as well as you think then."

She frowned. "You misunderstand, he won't take any unnecessary risks _if he's by himself._ But, to protect someone else... He'd fight the devil if he had to."

The corner of Mac's mouth turned up. "Guess you do know him."

Feeling as if a weight were lifted, Mac stood up. "Thank you Matty." He said sincerely.

Matty looked up at him and smiled. "Now, what do you say we get back in there and wait for him to call back."

0-0-0

Jack had climbed down the ladder carefully. Inspecting each rung as he went. There was still no evidence around any of the buildings that the cartel used any type of IED's but he wasn't going to take any chances.

Reaching the bottom, he brought the M4 up. The tunnel was dark. Using the light on the rifle, he quickly inspected the floor.

There were a few boot tracks of various sizes. Jack couldn't determine the age of the tracks but based on the dried mud, he thought, _couple of days maybe? Or could be weeks for all I know._ Wondering when was the last time it rained.

Looking down at his own feet, he was leaving tracks of his own. His own boot pattern different than any of the tracks he'd seen so far. _Anybody shows up, they're going to know someone's been here._

Jack inspected the walls and ceiling of the tunnel as he moved carefully forward, constantly scanning for all manner of nasty surprises.

Jack silently made his way down the tunnel, mentally keeping track of how far he was from the entrance, and looking for any potential hiding spots or defendable positions...Just in case.

Twenty feet ahead, Jack could see the tunnel turned ninety degrees. He silently made his way to the corner, stopping with his back against the wall. He quickly looked around the corner, In the second it took to look around the corner and pull back, Jack had a mental snap shot of what was there.

 _Got overhead lights, water and electrical conduit._

 _Well, what'll it be, go back or take a look?_ Jack ran through all the pro's and cons of staying underground. Other than a few dried boot tracks, so far he hadn't seen any signs of human activity. Decision made, he brought the rifle up and moved forward down the tunnel.

0-0-0

"Finally!" Riley said tiredly. The sun had finally come up and the cloud cover had cleared.

Bozer jumped at her exclamation. With all the waiting, he had dozed off.

Clearing the cobwebs with a jaw cracking yawn, he asked, "What'd I miss?"

"Not much, still haven't heard from Jack but we've got the sat feed up." Riley smiled.

Mac and Matty were both studying the image intently.

"Riley, zoom in on Jack's building." Matty all but ordered.

Mac, seeing what Matty was looking at turned towards Riley. "See the difference in the color of the tree tops, that's got to be a road. Can you follow that?"

"Yeah, sure." The image panned over the area. Everyone saw it at the same time, something was moving below the trees.

Bozer was the first to ask, "what is that?"

Riley concentrated on tracking the object. "It's moving fast, has to be a vehicle."

Mac looked back to the building. There was no sign of Jack yet. "Call his phone, see if it goes through." He said desperately.

"Already tried," Matty said holding up her phone.

They watched the object get closer to the building. There was a break in the trees just ahead of the vehicle, when it passed, Riley grabbed a screen shot.

She split the big screen keeping the live feed up while zooming in on the screen grab.

They were looking at a small pick-up, a 50 cal. Machine gun mounted to the roll bar and six armed men wearing jungle fatigues.

Mac's heart was racing. Jack had no idea these guys were coming his way.

"Maybe it's just a patrol or something." Bozer said trying to be positive.

"Not at the speed they're traveling, Jack must've tripped something." Mac said.

As they were watching the first vehicle, a second appeared. This one with four soldiers and no apparent big gun attached to it.

"Definitely not a patrol," Matty said.

0-0-0

Jack looked at his watch. He'd been in the tunnels for a little over twenty minutes. _Gotta be daylight out by now._ He thought. He still hadn't found anything of any significance in the tunnels.

The tunnel he was in had alcoves built into the side of the wall every fifty feet. _Nothin in 'em, blast buffers maybe?_ He thought.

The last time he had seen something like this was in Afghanistan.

The Taliban had carved out similar features in the caves.

 _What the hell are these guys preparing for?_ He wondered.

0-0-0

They watched as the first pick-up parked in front of the building. The men jumped out of the truck, stopping just to the side of the building entrance. They positioned themselves in a line and quickly entered the building in a stack formation, guns at the ready.

The other pick-up parked sideways outside of the gate, the men jumped out, positioning themselves behind the vehicle weapons trained on the building.

"This isn't good." Bozer stated the obvious.

 _They know he's there. Jack, you have to get out of this. Just hide... or run._ Mac pleaded silently.

"Who are these guys?" Matty commented to no one in particular. She picked up her phone. "Get in the air, I'll send exact coordinates when I have them."

Mac spun, looking at Matty, the conversation he'd just heard sinking in. "I need to go on that flight!"

She looked at him with a laser focus, "not gonna happen, I've had them sitting on the tarmac since this entire fiasco started. That phone call you heard..." She looked at her watch. "They're already in the air."

As much as he wanted, Mac couldn't argue.

"Still nothing with Jack's phone, I've got a dialing program running and sent a text." Riley interjected.

0-0-0

Jack heard something in the tunnel. He stopped to listen. _Animal, maybe. But how would it get down here._

Turning he quietly started back the way he had come. There it was again. Just the slightest sound. Jack couldn't place it, but whatever it was, it didn't belong down in the tunnel.

He had almost made it back to where the tunnel had turned when he heard the sound again. _It's close, somebody's down here._

Jack backed slowly towards the nearest alcove, retracing his tracks.

Ducking into the space, Jack kneeled M4 at the ready. The last thing he wanted to do was get into a firefight in a tunnel. He waited listening intently.

Without warning, the lights came on. Jack instantly flipped the night vision up desperately trying to get his vision to clear.

The noise was getting louder, _footsteps, two sets by the sound of it._

Not wanting to give away his position, Jack slowly lowered the rifle pushing it back. He reached up and quietly unsheathed his knife.

Holding the knife in his left hand, palm down, blade towards the ground, he readied himself for a fight, waiting for the people making the noise to come into range. _What if it's some poor farmer or a damn kid playing down here._ Jack thought.

Jack didn't have to wait long for the answer. Staying low in the alcove, the first thing he saw was the muzzle of a rifle. _Not a farmer, wait for them, just wait._ Jack remained crouched.

To Jack, everything happened in slow motion, the body that was attached to the rifle started to come into view, the muzzle starting to turn into the alcove. Jack knew there were two people, he waited until the last possible second, giving guy number two a chance to come in range.

Jack sprang into action. In a split second, he judged them to be the enemy by their wardrobe and gear. Instantly, he shoved the muzzle to the side, bring his right arm up to wrap around the throat of the first soldier pulling him off balance, while sweeping the knife to the left burying it to the hilt in the throat of the second soldier.

Jack pulled the knife out spinning it in his hand and thrust it upward into the back of the first soldier puncturing lung and heart.

Five seconds after it had begun, it was over.

Jack pulled both bodies into the alcove, quickly searching them he found a radio and accompanying ear piece. Guy number two had grenades strapped to his vest. Jack pulled them off the vest and attached them to his own.

The adrenaline rushing through his veins muted the pain in his shoulder and ribs. His mind racing formulating defensive plans for any possible scenario, coming to the same conclusion every time. _Gotta get out of this tunnel, can't go forward, could be a dead end, then I'm totally screwed._

Quickly placing the ear piece in his right ear, he could hear their transmission.

 _Shit!_ The transmissions were short and were the kind of things he'd expect to hear from a seasoned team. _Cartel my ass, these guys are trained. So much for being stealth, let's get loud._

Rifle at the ready he moved toward the exit tunnel. He slowed as he neared the corner. The overhead lights behind him were casting his shadow.

In one fluid movement, Jack dropped to his knees then lay on his right side bringing the rifle up around the corner.

 _Two targets... guy in the front... pop pop, he's down, next guy... pop pop, he's down. Get up, go, go, go!_

 _That ladder is a kill box. All they gotta do is stand up there and pick you off. Get there before they do._

Heart pounding, Jack stood and quickly and ran toward the ladder un clipping a grenade, pulling the pin and releasing the spoon, he mentally ticked off the seconds he had to get rid of it.

Reaching the base of the ladder, he threw the grenade up the shaft to the floor above.

Ducking back into the tunnel quickly covering his ears, the grenade detonated. Turning, Jack pulled the pin on the second grenade and repeated the process.

After the second detonation, Jack immediately started up the ladder. Taking the rungs two at a time, Keeping the rifle at the ready with his right, grabbing the rungs with his left hand, he reached the top.

Without coming completely out of the shaft, Jack scanned the room for threats.

 _On the right, guy's getting up... pop pop. Straight ahead, guy's down but moving... pop pop._

0-0-0

Everyone in the war room was watching the screen. The six soldiers that had gone in still hadn't come out.

 _That's a good thing,_ Mac thought.

Matty voiced what he was thinking, "They haven't found him yet." She said to no one in particular.

"But, how can you tell?" Riley asked.

Mac answered "If they had, all six of them wouldn't still be in the building. Somebody would have come out by now if they caught or killed him." He said factually, all emotion gone from his voice.

As they watched, a brief flash could be seen, the soldiers behind the truck ducked. A few seconds later, another flash and it appeared as if small chunks of mud around the building were flung in different directions.

One soldier came out from around the truck and headed toward the building.

"What was that?" Bozer asked wide eyed.

"Grenade maybe, too small to be anything else." Mac answered.

0-0-0

Climbing out of the shaft, Jack headed for the door. He heard yelling coming through the ear piece but he couldn't make out the words.

Even with the suppressed M4, the sound of the rounds going supersonic in the tunnel wreaked havoc on his hearing, coupled with the grenades, every sound he _could_ hear was muffled.

In his right ear, he heard voices. He couldn't make out what they were saying but he knew there were more men.

Before he could come up with an exit strategy, the front door opened. The soldier came in low, rifle at the ready.

Jack dropped to a knee, making himself a smaller target, having the advantage over the other soldier, Jack didn't have to identify his target from friend or foe, the other guy did and Jack was a split second faster.

Jack's rounds hitting their mark, as the other soldier pulled the trigger, bullets pinged off the concrete around Jack. The soldier fell back and lay in the open doorway.

Through the open door, Jack saw the truck and the soldiers behind it. They opened fire on the building.

0-0-0

Everyone's eyes were glued to the screen. They saw the soldier that had been killed in the doorway.

"Jack's still alive." Mac stepped forward towards the screen. Eyes scanning from the building to the truck.

They could see the muzzle flashes from the rifles the men behind the truck were firing.

Mud kicked up in front of the building.

Bozer stared, not knowing exactly what was going on, _This is like watching somebody's sick version of a silent movie._ He thought keeping it to himself.

0-0-0

As soon as the rounds started shredding the walls of the shed, Jack went to his stomach, belly crawling to the right toward the nearest dead soldier.

Jack was getting peppered with small chunks of concrete. _They're zeroing in._ He thought as he headed toward the only cover available.

A round ricocheted off the concrete hitting Jack in the side. The pain his ribs exploded, he fought the instinct to guard the injury and kept moving.

He reached the body and making himself as small as possible behind his new found barrier, he lay his left arm over the body and blindly fired off rounds from his pistol. He knew the rounds weren't going to be effective, but people tend to rethink their plan once someone shoots back.

His tactic worked, there was a lull in the firing for a second or two. Enough time for Jack to grab the grenades off of the soldiers vest.

0-0-0

Watching the events silently unfold, everyone was startled when the speakers came alive with the sound of gunfire.

Mac was the first to recover. "Jack! Can you hear me? Jack!"

Watching the screen, they could see the other men firing but the sound was dulled through the speakers. A series of loud gunshots followed.

"That's Jack, he's still fighting, Matty said to the group.

"Jack! Dammit, Dalton answer me!" Matty practically yelled

They could hear him grunting. Mac knew that sound, he'd heard it on occasion. "He's hit I think, he might not be able to hear us."

Riley walked back to her computer. "I can't turn the volume up on his end, but we're at max."

As if to emphasize what she just said, more gunfire erupted from the speakers.

Jack fired off the last few rounds of the clip. Rolling to his back, he dropped the magazine and replaced it with a fresh one, reaching over his body firing toward the truck.

Everyone was concentrating on the building until Mac spoke. "Got more vehicles coming up the road."

Taking a deep breath, he shouted, "Jack! You have to move now!"

Mac's outburst startled everyone but Matty. She was on her phone watching the screen intently, apparently listening to who ever was on the other end.

Jack knew he had to move and move fast. He dropped the spent magazine and loaded the pistol.

Instead of firing, he waited listening to the rate of fire.

Most local militia, armies, and just general bad guys don't carry enough ammunition to sustain an extended firefight. Being close to their supply, they tended to show up light.

These were _not_ those kind of guys. Their rate of fire continued. They were alternating, one or two firing while the other reloaded.

Jack spared a quick look at the front of the building, rounds still hitting close. _Air support would be nice right now._ He thought. Then it dawned on him, he should be able to hear Mac or somebody, _with all the holes, something got to get through._ Switching the pistol to his right, he fired at the truck while reaching up to his left ear. The ear bud had fallen out. Quickly putting it back in, he heard a resounding now!"

 _"Mac?"_ He said switching the pistol back to his left.

Mac was elated to hear Jack's voice. "Jack you have to get out of there now! More trucks are on the way!" Mac yelled.

 _"What? Can't hear you!"_ Jack yelled continuing to fire, and reload.

"More bad guys coming! Go, now!" Mac yelled desperately trying to get the message across.

 _"Got it, bad guys..."_ Jack replied with a grunt.

Jack was planning on moving eventually but this new information gave him the added motivation.

He holstered the pistol, said a small prayer and pulled the pin on the grenade.

Releasing the spoon, Jack grit his teeth, sat up and came to his knees throwing for all he was worth. As soon as the grenade left his hand, he felt the impacts. Falling back behind his cover, the grenade detonated.

Hurting but with no time to waste, _now or never,_ he thought as he pulled the second pin. This time, instead of staying where he was at, he got to his feet and ran toward the door.

As soon as he was close to the door, he threw the grenade toward the fence at the side of the building. Bringing his rifle up, he fired at the soldiers that were recovering from the blast of the first grenade.

The fire from the rifle was accurate, causing them to keep their heads down, only coming up to fire off a few un aimed bursts.

The grenade at the fence detonated with the effect Jack needed. He immediately ran for the hole in the fence firing the rifle one handed to the side as he ran. Mud kicking up at his feet and rounds pinging off of what was left of the building.

Jack baseball slid through the hole in the fence, stopping his forward progress on the slight downhill, flipping over to the prone position. He brought the rifle up. Now that he had decent cover and a better angle, he decided to go on the offensive.

The guys behind the truck had lost half their cover and were slow to move.

Holding a breath, Jack picked off one, then two of the men. The third had decent cover, only coming up behind the truck enough to fire over the hood.

"Jack! get out of there! Leave now! Go! Go! Go!" Mac screamed in his ear.

Jack emptied his clip, flipped over on his back, planted his feet changed the clip and leaned forward shoving off of the bank and ran headlong down the hillside.

To be continued...

A/N: Hope you enjoyed. I've been updating on a daily basis because I had enough of a backlog of chapters to keep it going. I've caught up to myself. So, it's going to be a day or two before the next update. I've found that I can bang out a chapter or two pretty quick but going back, making changes, editing all the WTF mistakes takes some time. So, don't worry, I'm seeing this thing through to the end, just have to get a bit more material together before it goes up. Thanks again for taking the time to review, they're nice to get. Also, please point out any mistakes that I need to fix.

-Gib-


	12. Chapter 12

A/N: Thank you for the kind reviews. As always, thanks Dlwells51 for making this better. I wasn't planning on getting this posted tonight, didn't know how much time I would have to get it written. It's a bit shorter than my previous chapters but I think I found a good stopping point. (at least as the writer anyways) sorry readers, I'm one of you and I would hate me right now. :-)

Warnings: Nothing explicit really.

Disclaimer: I don't own anything having to do with the show.

Chapter 12

0-0-0

Jack was expecting to hear bullets whizzing by his head as he ran down the hill. He'd left one guy alive up there and according to Mac, more were on the way.

Eyes scanned every possible tree, rock or depression in the ground he could use for cover as he ran by. But the rounds didn't come.

 _Gotta stop, see if that guy is following._ Jack thought, starting to slow his pace. _Up ahead, big rocks, good vantage, plenty of cover._

Coming to the rocks, he jogged slightly past the formation, getting a good visual on the downhill side to see if his initial size-up was right.

There was a hollow between the boulders that would work perfectly.

Coming to a complete stop, Jack quickly turned bringing the M4 up and sighting up the hill as he moved to the rocks.

Seeing no one was following, Jack positioned himself between the boulders, keeping the uphill area in his sight.

With no immediate threat and not having to concentrate on running, Jack's attention turned to his own body.

Places he didn't know he'd been hit started to make their presence known, nicks, here and there stinging.

His side and ribs felt as if he'd been hit with a sledge hammer, each breath bringing a sharp pain and his shoulder hurt.

"Jack?" Mac's voice came over the earpiece.

Jack replied with a breathless _"yeah, I hear ya."_

0-0-0

Everyone in the war room had watched Jack's escape unfold. They had watched as the two men behind the truck had fallen, hearing the gunshots as Jack fired them.

Bozer had never seen someone being killed, and even now, it was as if he was watching a movie. He was speechless, still trying to process what was happening before his eyes.

"How are you doing Jack?" Matty asked, all business but the others could see the concern on her face.

 _"You guys got..."_ Jack started then grunted. _"You guys still got... the sat feed?"_ He finished, still out of breath.

"Yes Jack, we still have the sat feed. Doesn't look like they're following yet." Mac answered knowing Jack wanted intel.

"The reinforcements are at the building, looks like they're getting organized. You've got maybe eight minutes on them, you've got time."

Jack silently thanked the powers that be for giving him a partner that knew exactly what he needed.

Hearing he had at least an eight minute head start, Jack relaxed, turned his back to the rocks, sat and began to take a physical inventory.

"Jack, exfil is en route." Matty chimed in through his ear piece.

 _"Copy that, keep 'em coming for now,"_ Jack said straining as he was pulling out his med kit.

"What's your situation?" Mac asked.

Jack, taking in his mud covered fatigues let out a short, quiet laugh. _"SNAFU."_ was his initial response. _"Give me a sec, lemme know if the bad guys are comin."_

"You're still good, no movement down range." Mac answered. "Gimme your laundry list." Mac requested, keeping his emotions at bay. He had decided that if Jack was going to be playing soldier, he'd be better off playing the role right along with him. Wanting nothing more than to get his friend home.

Jack felt his side while trying to get a look at it. With all the gear and being seated with his back to the rocks, he couldn't really see anything. Reaching over with a grunt, he undid the velcro straps on his vest.

Reaching under the vest, his hand came back clean. _"Took a round to the vest."_ Knowing he had been hit by a ricochet, Jack inspected the vest in that area. He pulled out one of the clips for the M4. There was a decent size dent in it. _"Round hit one of my mags, got a cracked rib or two."_ Jack quickly dug a hole in the dirt with his heel and buried the damaged magazine. _No need to carry the extra weight._ He thought.

Re securing the velcro hurt, Jack sucked air through his teeth and let out a low growl.

Mac knew Jack probably had more than just a cracked rib, but at the moment there wasn't anything he could do about it.

Riley and Bozer, not wanting to interrupt, kept to themselves on the couch. Bozer leaned towards Riley and quietly asked, "laundry list?"

Riley shrugged her shoulders. "I have no idea but I don't think it has anything to do with laundry."

Jack opened four blister packs of ibuprofen, popped them in his mouth and washed them down with a long drink of water. _Man that tastes good,_ he thought, continuing with his assessment.

 _"Got the usual concrete bits stuck in a few places, nothing worth taking care of now."_ Jack continued.

 _"Think I got..."_ he grunted _"a uh, can't tell..."_ they heard another strained grunt, _"Something in my shoulder, can't get to it, but I can still move my arm and fingers."_

 _"All in all, got nothing a box of bandaids and a lot of ibuprophen cant take care of."_ Jack finished unconvincingly.

Mac knew this wasn't the time to argue but he wanted Jack to know he didn't buy it. "Got it Jack, I'll bring the extra large band aids and duct tape."

Mac was rewarded by a snort coming over the speakers. _"You know me too well, brother."_ Jack said jokingly.

 _"What are my bad guys doin'?"_ He said changing the subject.

"Better get moving, they're headed your way." Mac said as they watched a group of fifteen to twenty men start down the hill.

 _"Orientation?"_ Jack asked.

"Hard to tell with the trees but looks like they're grouping in fives." Mac said already knowing what Jack was thinking.

"I'd tell you to escape and evade but I know you won't listen, what're you planning there Jack?" Mac's pulse quickened. _He's going to go offensive, I know it._ Mac thought.

They could hear him moving by the sound of his gear and the accompanying grunts, hisses and his short clipped breaths. _"Just gonna slow em down a bit, keep em honest, then I'll bug out."_

Mac was about to reply, when the view on the screen changed. Mac and Matty both turned and looked expectantly at Riley.

"I've got another satellite, it's a different angle but it's a better view." She quickly explained her actions.

Mac smiled at her. "Thank you."

Turning back to the screen, they could see Jack clearly.

Bozer got excited, "Hey Jack! we can..." he was instantly cut off Mac holding up a hand, and Jack quietly saying, "Keep it down Boze, I'm workin here dude."

Riley looked at Bozer sympathetically. She was about to talk to Jack too, she was glad that Bozer was the one to beat her to the unintentional mistake.

So, they watched in silence.

Jack pulled the strap over his head, bringing the folded rifle to the front. Inspecting every part for damage. Jack wasn't surprised to find the rifle in perfect working order, save for a few scratches in the cammo spray paint.

Jack had used the Blaser R93 as his go-to sniper rifle for years.

Unfolding the stock, then flipping the bipod down, he checked the chamber. Setting the bipod on the rocks, he got comfortable behind the rifle. Flipping up the scope covers he began to scan the hillside.

Mac watched in silence, trying to identify the most immediate threat in relation to Jack's position.

"One o'clock, 900 meters, looks like 200 to 220 elevation." Mac said systematically.

Jack moved the rifle in small increments to the right, while continuing to stare through the scope. He found the target. Without pulling the trigger, he moved the rifle slowly aiming at another then another and another. Jack brought the rifle back to target number one. His firing order practiced and set, he slowed his breathing, letting the air escape through his nose, he concentrated on his pulse. Going through the mental steps practiced too many times to count, _Slight trigger pull, hold center mass... send it._

Not used to having someone able to see what he was doing, he continued with his routine. _"One's down,"_ he said out of habit.

Mac replied, "good copy, one's down." Quickly falling back into the old routine, he had become used to hearing so long ago.

Bozer and Riley were mesmerized. They were watching as they heard the report of the rifle and before their eyes could adjust, a man fell.

Another shot, "two's down," Jack said emotionless.

"Good copy, two's down." Mac said with the same tone. The difference was, Mac's chin was on his chest, eyes squeezed shut, answering automatically as if it was something he was being forced to do.

Another shot, another body and another exchange between Mac and Jack.

This deadly routine played out before them two more times until they could see muzzle flashes coming from the men uphill from Jack's position.

Bozer felt sick. He didn't want to know the inside details of what Jack was capable of, and he couldn't wrap his head around Mac's role in all of this.

Standing up, he said to the room, "I need some air." As he walked out.

Mac lifted his head, turned and recognized the look on his friend's face. It was the same look he'd had the first time he'd seen Jack's efficiency with a rifle. Over time he'd become accustomed to it. _Hell, I relied on it,_ he thought.

 _"That ought to slow them down a bit, I'm Oscar Mike."_ Jack said grunting as they watched him sling the rifle and head farther down the hill.

Mac was torn, he wanted to follow Bozer and explain what was going on, but he needed to be there for Jack.

 _"Matty, how long till exfil gets here?"_ Jack asked with a clipped tone.

Jack's question solved his dilemma. _I'll talk to Bozer when Jack is safe,_ he thought turning his attention back to the screen.

"You've still got a little over eight hours Jack... why?" She asked suspiciously.

They could hear him taking short breaths, each followed by a low grunt on exhalation as he moved.

 _"So, I've got some time... This mission's a bust, has been from the start. I figure the agency might as well get their money's worth while I'm still kickin."_ He said as they watched him start to go to the left, cutting across the side of the hill, instead of going down.

"Jack? What are you doing?" Mac said, emphasizing every word.

The response was exactly what Mac had expected from this version of Jack. _"I'm doing my job. These guys have a stockpile of weapons and gear, I am not going to just leave here."_

"You have a plan, or are you just going to go running up there guns blazing?" Mac asked frustrated.

 _"Well, I was kinda figurin I'd just get up there and yeah... improvise. You got anything in that big brain of yours?"_ Jack cleared his throat, _"never mind... of course you do."_

Mac walked over to Riley, looking at her computer. "Can you print the list of the weapons Jack sent?"

"Sure, it'll be up in a sec." Riley punched a few keys. "I'll go get it, I'm gonna check on Bozer while I'm out there."

Mac gave her a knowing look. "Thanks, Bozer will be fine, he's just not used to any of this."

Riley looked at Mac, then stood and started toward the door. Stopping, she turned, "neither of us are." she said matter of factly and walked out the door.

"Jack, your six is clear for now, I'm working on something to help you out, Matty's still here, I'll be right back. Gotta go take care of something."

 _"Everything ok Mac, you alright?"_ Jack asked worried.

The corner of Mac's mouth turned up. _"I'm fine Jack, just have to step out of the room for a few, be right back."_

A minute passed and Jack asked. _"Yo, boss, we alone?"_

"Yes Jack, we're alone." Matty answered knowing what was probably on the agents mind.

 _"How's the kid? He doing ok with all of this?"_ Jack said tiredly, the strain of moving back up the hill evident in his voice.

"He's holding up Jack, but you've put him... hell, all of us through the wringer." Matty moved to the couch, suddenly feeling very tired.

 _"Yeah, sorry 'bout that, wasn't my intention to fall out of a tree..."_ he grunted, _"get shot,"_ another grunt, _"and run all over the countryside."_ Jack was breathing hard by the time he finished.

"I know that Jack, I just..." she was interrupted.

 _"Hey, now, let's not make this weird ok, I've got enough stuff to take care of at the moment."_ He said letting Matty off the emotional hook.

"Fine! Jack, you better get your old ass up that hill and get this thing done then." She said trying to sound stern without it really meaning it.

 _"There's my girl."_ Jack said, as he continued to fill the speakers with the sounds of his exertion.

0-0-0

Mac walked around the corner towards the printer. Bozer and Riley were standing together talking. When they saw Mac, they both stopped. Neither would look him in the eye.

Deciding to start the conversation, Mac began. "I'm sorry you guys. I've been so wrapped up in what's going on, I didn't even think to realize you've never really seen something like this before." He sighed, "Believe me, I didn't think I would ever have to watch from the sidelines again, but that's what's happening."

Neither one of them spoke. Mac understood they were a bit shell shocked. He'd been the same way the first time he saw combat although he didn't have the luxury of just walking away. At the time, it was either curl up into a ball or recognize he was there to do a job. He chose the latter.

"I know it's a lot to process, but right now... Jack needs us." He turned, waving a hand toward the war room. "So, what do you say, can we get back in there?"

Bozer dropped his head for a second then looked Mac straight in the eye. "I'm here for _you_ Mac."

"I know you are Boze, never doubted it." Mac smiled.

"Me too," Riley said handing him the list of weapons and the topo maps he'd requested earlier.

"Thank you both." Mac turned, and the trio made their way back to the war room.

To be continued...

A/N: Well, I hope you enjoyed. As always, let me know if there are any errors in this.

Jack finally got to use the sniper rifle. Poor guy, I've had him carry that thing around this entire time. That was a rookie mistake on my part. At least the rifle he does use has a folding stock. That was an advantage.

What'd you guys think of Mac in this? I've grown a bit tired of beating him up emotionally so I decided to change it up a bit. Does it work?

Chapter 13 will be up in a day or two, probably closer to two. I've been working non-stop and finally have a day off tomorrow. My job gives me the opportunity to write in the evenings most of the time, and since I've worked 19 of the last 24 days, 24 hour shifts. I'm going to do something tomorrow, I don't know what but it probably doesn't involve writing. I'm back on duty Monday for another 4 days so I should bang out quite a few chapters during that shift. I'll get them up when they're done.

-Gib-


	13. Chapter 13

A/N: And I'm back. Had a good two days off. Thank you for the reviews and as always, thanks to Dlwells51 for giving me a hand with this. When we left off, Jack was headed back to the storage buildings.

 **Warnings: Violence and some off screen/implied stuff.**

Disclaimer: I don't own anything having to do with the show.

Chapter 13

0-0-0

Mac walked back into the war room, head down reading the list of weapons Riley had printed.

Looking up, he noted Jack's location. He hadn't covered as much ground as Mac would have expected.

Listening to the transmission, Mac could hear the grunts and short clipped breaths coming from Jack.

"Hey Jack, I've got the list, I see the H.E. rounds for the mortar, but did you see any Willie Pete or illumination rounds?" Mac finished still studying the list.

 _"Yeah, there was a crate of illumination rounds in there but I'm not sure about the Willie Pete though. What do you have in mind?"_ Jack said breathlessly.

"Well, if there are W.P. Rounds it would be easier, but you can use the illumination rounds to cook off the rest of the high explosive rounds, it'll just take longer." Mac said, watching the screen. "I don't see any plastic explosives on the list."

 _"I think... argh, dammit! Son of a..."_ Jack's voice was drowned out by Mac.

"Jack? You alright?" Mac was still watching the screen but Jack had moved into the dense trees and they couldn't see him.

After a string of curses mixed with grunts and growls, _"yeah, I'm fine. I hate the mud man, getting hard to get up the hill. I didn't see any plastics."_ Jack said breaths coming quickly.

Bozer and Riley had resumed their position on the couch. Bozer leaned over to ask Riley what Willie Pete was, but before he could ask the question, Riley turned her computer toward him.

At the top of the page, Bozer saw 'White Phosphorus'.

Riley said under her breath, "if we're going to help, might as well know what they're talking about."

 _"What're my bad guys doin?"_ Jack asked.

"They're starting to figure out you didn't turn tail and run, looks like half of them are coming back up the hill. The others are still on the hill, coming your way but very slowly." Matty answered.

 _"Anybody at the first building north of here?"_ Jack asked still moving up and across the hillside.

"Doesn't look like it, you're just about inline with the second building Jack." Mac said, watching the screen then trying to compare what he was seeing to the topo map Riley had printed.

"You going to the northernmost building from the compound Jack?" Mac asked.

 _"Yeah,"_ Jack answered with a grunt. _"Got the mortars in that one."_

"I'm looking at the topo, go 100 meters to your right and you'll be directly below the building." Mac said studying the elevation lines. _This is some steep country, Mac thought. Jack's lucky he hasn't gone sliding down the hill._

 _"Yeah, I know where I'm at, just passed a trail I left earlier."_

"Why'd you leave a trail Jack? Not the best idea." Mac asked genuinely curious.

 _"Believe me, it wasn't part of my master plan, took a slide down the hill last night."_ Jack grunted still making his way up the hill. _"Wasn't as fun as it sounds."_

Before Mac had a chance to respond, Jack said, _"I'll let you know if I find any W.P. rounds, Gonna keep it quiet for a few while I check the building."_

As he started to get to the top of the hill, Jack could see the roof of the building.

He paused, laying on his stomach checking the area, using the optics on the M4. _"Don't see any tracks."_ Jack whispered. _"Goin in."_

With a quiet grunt, Jack lifted himself off the ground, keeping the M4 aimed at the door.

His heart was racing, senses heightened, all discomfort and fatigue forgotten for the moment.

As Jack approached the door, he constantly scanned for any signs that someone had been there since last night.

The only thing visible, were the faint remnants of his own tracks. Most of which had been almost completely washed away by the rain.

Jack dropped the M4, shoved it to the back and drew his pistol. _Here goes nothin,_ he thought.

Opening the door, he quickly slipped inside. _"Shit."_

0-0-0

Once Jack had made it up to the building, they could see him on the screen, the clearing providing a perfect view of the area.

Mac's heart was racing. Even though Jack said there weren't any tracks, it didn't mean the building was empty.

When he heard Jack's exclamation, his heart sped up. "What... Jack? What's going on?"

They heard rustling and Jack's quick breathing. _"Nothing, everything's ok, just... never mind."_ He spoke quietly.

Mac wanting to know exactly what was going on, held his questions. _Jack still has to clear the building,_ he thought.

Jack was still cursing himself as he slowly checked the building for threats. _Rookie freaking mistake Dalton._

 _There's no damn windows in this place stupid. Just stand in the doorway like an idiot. Hell even the old cowboys knew not to high line themselves... idiot._

"Alright Mac, building's clear." Jack said turning and heading toward the crates of mortar rounds.

Flipping the night vision up, Jack turned on the helmet light. _"Got H.E. rounds,"_ he said as he moved the crate off the top of the stack.

 _"More H.E.,_ " he moved another crate.

Five crates later, he finally found what he was looking for.

 _"Got em, found some Willie Pete Mac, got a whole crate full of them."_ Jack started to pry the top off of the wooden crate. " _Now what?"_

"Well, now comes the tricky part." Mac said glancing apologetically toward Matty.

She had been watching the screen intently, keeping track of the enemy forces in relation to Jack's position.

"Whatever you do, do it fast, I think you got their attention Jack. I've got four maybe five more trucks coming down the road." Matty said while looking at Mac.

Mac nodded and turned back to the screen. He couldn't see Jack, but talking to the screen made him feel closer some how. Alright Jack, take two of the shells out.

Jack slid the first then the second shell out of the protective tubing. _"Done, now what, can't throw em, my arms good but Troy Aikman couldn't throw this thing far enough to get away from the blast"_

Mac smiled, "you're not going to throw it Jack." He paused getting his thoughts in order. He knew exactly what to do, but explaining it to Jack, he needed to slow his thoughts down to match his directions.

"Don't do anything yet, I'm going to explain what you need to do first. I can't walk you through it real time, otherwise, well... never mind." Mac waved his hand as if to erase his comment.

"Open a crate of the H.E. rounds, just take the lid off and set the crate at the back of the building near the stuff you want to get rid of. Do the same in the middle of the building."

 _"What about the front?"_ Jack asked as he was moving the crates, already moving a third crate to the front of the building.

"You're not going to have time for a third." Mac said.

Jack set the crate next to the door. _"Hey, anybody getting close?"_

"Not yet, Jack, you've got maybe ten minutes." Matty said having no doubt Jack was planning something.

 _"Ok, hang on a sec Mac."_ Jack said hurriedly with a grunt.

They watched as the door opened and Jack ran out of the building to the trees, carrying a large crate. He exited the tree line without the box and ran back to the building.

Out of breath, Jack said, _"alright Mac, go ahead, got the crates open and in place."_

Mac decided to pick his battles and continue with the directions. "Take both of the W.P. Shells with you to the back of the building. Set one down where you can reach it fast."

 _"Done."_ Jack confirmed.

"Ok, don't do anything until I tell you. You are going to unscrew the explosive fuse on the top of the shell, it won't explode, you haven't armed it." Once you unscrew the top, set it in the open crate of the H.E. rounds, pick up the other W.P. round and run to the crate in the middle of the building. Do the same thing, then run like hell." Mac finished.

 _"Got it."_ Jack said. _"Twist, drop, run, piece of cake."_

"Don't forget Jack, you're dealing with white phosphorus, as soon as the air hits it, it's going to start burning... bright. It shouldn't take too long to set off the H.E. rounds so make sure you're clear. Ok."

 _"You got it brother, besides, I've got a surprise planned for the boys when they show up."_ Jack took a few calming breaths. He lifted the night vision and squinted as he started to unscrew the top of the first mortar round. _"Mac, nothings hap... never mind._

The bright white light cast eerie shadows inside the building as Jack ran to the second crate, he unscrewed the top of the shell faster than the first. The bright light, smoke, and sounds of sputtering molten metal at the back of the building acting as a great motivator.

The second mortar shell lit. Jack set it on top of the high explosive rounds and ran.

Jack cleared the building and made it to the trees. Not wanting to wait around, he picked up the crate he'd stashed in the forest and started running toward the other building.

 _"Jack, what... are you going to do with those shells?"_ Mac asked suspiciously.

 _"I'm gonna..."_ Jack started but was interrupted by several explosions.

"Holy crap!" Bozer exclaimed.

They were watching explosions rip the building apart. The incendiary rounds creating showers of bright white lights on the screen, mixed with the visible shock waves of the larger munitions going off.

Mac smiled, _it worked,_ he thought.

They heard Jack let out a short laugh, _"yeah brother, that's what I'm talking about."_ Jack started coughing, _"dammit."_

"That definitely got their attention Jack, you've got six trucks headed your way." Matty said, putting a damper on the celebration.

Jack had reached the second building. He slid to his knees hastily opening the crate.

"Jack? What are you doing?" Mac's voice came through the ear piece.

 _"The fire and explosions are going to attract those guys like moths to a flame, I'm just setting up a welcoming present."_ He said as he removed the rounds from the protective tubing. Arming the shells for ground burst, he set them back in the crate.

 _"Gonna kill two birds with one stone."_ He said, _"not gonna have these guys chasing me all the way back to the exfil."_

Finished arming the shells, Jack placed one next to the wall pointed at the building. He picked the crate up and repeated the process, placing a shell every twenty feet until the shells were gone.

 _"Alright kids, ready for a show?"_ Jack ran towards the trees.

"Jack, their almost there." Mac said, having an idea of what Jack planned on doing.

As Jack ran through the trees, he was mentally measuring the distance and looking for an elevated position with decent cover. Seeing another rock formation ahead, he unslung the sniper rifle, flipped down the bipod and unfolded the stock as he ran.

 _"How much time?"_ Jack asked out of breath.

"Two minutes, tops." Mac said, eyes shifting from the first truck to Jack's position.

Jack reached the rocks, spun and laid on his stomach getting set behind the rifle.

Reaching in his pocket, he grabbed a camouflaged scope cap with a rectangular piece cut out of the middle. Placing the cap on the end of the scope, he scanned for his first target. The cover limited the sight picture but Jack didn't want to risk having the sun glint off of the scope lense.

The mortar shells he'd placed along the building were visible in his scope.

Hearing the trucks coming, he turned the rifle toward the sound, seeing the first vehicle.

 _"I count five in vehicle one."_ He whispered moving to the second vehicle, studying their armament. _"Got another six in two."_

"Copy that Jack, stay low." Mac said, heart starting to race. _If I'd had more time, I could have come up with something more useful._ He thought.

 _"Hold on, I think I've got Juan in number four."_ Jack said keeping his voice low.

Matty walked closer to the screen. She turned and looked expectantly at Riley.

"I'm on it," Riley said without being asked to do anything.

The screen split, the live feed was on the left while Riley was changing the view on the right to the vehicle. "I can't get a clearer picture, the angle isn't right."

 _"Don't worry Ry, I got this."_ Jack said.

Jack changed his aim to front vehicle. Slowing his breathing, he pulled the trigger.

The first vehicle swerved coming to a stop after hitting a tree, the driver slumped over the wheel.

Jack didn't take the time to watch the end result, he knew he hit the man and quickly changed targets to the third vehicle. Another shot, another driver down.

The remaining vehicles quickly sped towards the building.

Jack tracked vehicle number four, sighting in on the man he thought could be Juan.

Following the target was a bit difficult. Jack hadn't had to hit a moving target with a sniper rifle in a long time.

Taking an extra second, he took a breath, held it and let it out slowly pulling the trigger.

 _"Juan's down, you watching my Backside Mac? How am I lookin?"_ Jack asked, sighting in on the mortar shell he'd planted that was closest to the fleeing vehicles.

"They're scattering, looks like most of them are heading for the building. You've got a few headed into the trees, can't see them." Mac said scanning the area mentally cataloging the number and location of the soldiers.

Jack pulled the trigger. The shell exploded sending shrapnel flying.

Jack pivoted the rifle four inches to the left and aimed at the farthest mortar, he pulled the trigger, the second explosion effectively boxing in the men hiding behind the building.

Jack continued to hit the mortars. The building was a shredded mess with ammunition cooking off in the resulting fires.

Jack reached around his back trying to grab another clip for the rifle before he ran out. His shoulder flared. Taking his eyes off the scope, he cringed and attempted the move again. This time ready for the pain.

He quickly changed clips and started to re acquire targets. If they had a weapon, he put them down.

This went on for a few more minutes.

All in all, Jack had effectively taken out over twenty-five men judging by the number of times he'd changed clips and the state of the building.

The carnage that was left, displayed in detail on the screen in the war room.

Jack sat frozen behind the rifle expecting more targets. He was so focused he didn't hear Mac the first time he spoke in his ear.

"Jack?" Mac called waiting for a response. When none came, he shared a look with Matty.

"Jack!" He said louder this time. "Time to move buddy."

Jack heard Mac the second time. Clearing his throat he dropped his head, eyes closed. _"Mac? How am I doin?"_ Jack asked quietly.

"You're looking ok, you should get moving." Mac said still scanning the screens. "Mission's over Jack, time to come home."

 _"Copy, just going to confirm the body and I'll Bug out. Matty, what's my exfil location?"_ Jack asked tiredly.

"North toward the river, there's a clearing in," Matty checked her phone, "grid delta seven."

Jack rolled to the side, reached into his vest and pulled out the map. He had marked the building location the first time he'd been there, back tracking to the exfil site on the map, he confirmed, _"Delta seven, got it."_

Jack levered himself off of the ground with a grunt. _"I'll be headed out in a sec, gotta take care of a few things."_ Jack said, emotionless.

 _"Matty can you kill the feed for about ten minutes?"_ Jack looked around at the scene before him.

Knowing what Jack had to do, she looked at Riley and nodded. "Sure Jack."

"Why do you have to cut the feed?" Bozer asked, as the screen went blank. Before anyone could answer, they heard Jack say _"Dear Lord, hold all of these men in the palm of your hand, comfort them and their families."_

 _0-0-0_

Everyone in the room flinched at the sound of the gun shot.

Realizing what was going on, Riley gasped and covered her mouth with her hand.

Recovering quickly, after the second shot was heard, she hit the mute button.

"What's going on?" Bozer said accusingly not sure he wanted the answer.

Mac sighed, "We aren't supposed to be there Boze, can't leave any witnesses." He said somberly.

"And you approve of this?" Bozer looked at Mac.

"No Bozer I don't approve but I understand. It's part of the job." Mac said looking to Matty for some assistance.

Matty stepped forward, "what did you think we did here Bozer? We don't usually carry out assassinations if there is a chance we can capture someone but that doesn't always happen." She waved at the blank screen.

Bozer sat down on the couch taking it all in. He didn't know what to think, he looked at Mac. "Have you ever done something like this Mac?"

Mac shook his head, "No Boze I haven't, I never had to, Jack has always been there."

Riley still hadn't said anything, she was concentrating on her screen. She still had Jack's location up, but instead of the satellite picture, she had the screen capture map up with his red dot. "Um, guys, I can't tell what's going on but Jack is moving pretty fast."

"Put the sat feed up," Matty said turning to the screen.

Riley put the feed up and un muted the comm. They were assaulted by gunshots coming over the speakers.

"Jack?" Mac said watching the screen, seeing his friend running downhill, turning and firing before running again. Memories of his dream briefly invading his thoughts.

 _"Had a couple of guys playing possum."_ Jack said between shots.

Mac was watching intently trying to get a head count. "I can't tell, looks like maybe four or five." Mac said concerned.

 _"Five..."_ Jack didn't continue they heard, 'oomph' followed by a series of unrecognizable sounds and Jack grunting.

Mac had watched as Jack went down. "Jack!"

He'd been hit, he knew that much, how bad, he had no idea.

It had felt like someone hit him in the back with a baseball bat. As soon as he was hit, he lost his balance and tumbled down the hill.

Keeping a grip on the M4, he tried to get his feet under himself. Rounds were hitting the forest floor all around him.

He turned his gaze uphill, trying to see how close the soldiers were. They were gaining on him.

Without trying to stop his decent, Jack brought the rifle up and started shooting. He emptied the clip hoping it would slow them down.

Before Jack could try to grab another magazine, he came to a sudden stop, slamming into a tree. He couldn't breath and was seeing stars.

Grunting trying to get his air back, he automatically reached for another clip. Reloading the rifle, he started shooting in three round bursts. Finally able to get a shallow breath, his head started to clear, They were almost on him.

Painfully scrambling around the tree, he got them in his sights. With shaky hands, he picked off one then another. The other three started to split up. Jack followed one man with the sights, pulling the trigger and watching him go down.

He found the next guy and brought him down having to go to full auto, after missing the first two shots.

 _Where's number five?_ Jack wondered, heart racing.

"Jack! Behind you!" Mac yelled.

Jack immediately turned bringing the rifle around. He pulled the trigger but the man was moving and Jack missed. Luckily, because the man was moving, his aim wasn't accurate either.

Jack dropped the spent magazine. Before he could reload, the other man threw a grenade. Jack's eyes grew wide, he jumped to his feet and ran straight at the man.

The other soldier had ducked waiting for the grenade to go off.

When it detonated, he looked up to see Jack running straight at him. Before he could bring his rifle around, Jack had pulled his pistol and shot him, pulling the trigger until the clip was empty.

Jack was wheezing, he couldn't take a full breath, turning, pistol raised, he searched for more threats.

Through ragged breaths, Jack asked _"Mac?"_

"You're clear Jack, I don't see anything, are you ok?" Mac said concerned. Jack didn't sound good.

 _"I don't know."_ Jack answered honestly, took another one to the vest, don't think it went through. _"How far to the exfil site?"_

Mac looked at the map in his hand. "You've got about five clicks, you can make it in no time, looks like the coast is clear."

"How much time I got?" Jack asked sounding a little better.

Matty pulled the phone away from her ear, "they'll be on station in an hour from now." She said then getting back to her conversation.

"You hear that Jack, you've got an hour, time to get moving, buddy." The anguish on Mac's face evident.

 _"Got it, I'm movin"_ Jack said tiredly.

Mac watched his friend move slowly through the forest, listening to the grunts and groans coming through the speakers.

Fifteen minutes had past without a word from Jack.

"Jack, how ya doin?" Mac asked concerned.

 _"I'm alright, just concentrating on moving without falling on my butt."_ Jack answered sounding tired but better than he had earlier.

 _"Matty?"_

"Yes Jack?" She answered curiously.

 _"I don't mind doin my job, but don't ever loan me out to the company ever again."_ He said matter of factly.

 _"And I think I'm just about done going to south and Central America for a while ok?"_ He said with a half laugh.

 _That's a good sign,_ Mac thought. _He's joking again... At least I think he's joking._

"I can't promise anything Jack, you know that." She said seriously. "We go where we're needed, and we get the job done, just like you did here Jack, you completed the mission and then some."

Jack's reply was a grunt.

He was silent again.

Matty's phone buzzed. She answered looking at Mac. "Matty Webber... uh huh, you're sure?... Alright, we'll look into it, thanks."

"Jack?" She said raising her voice to make sure he heard her.

 _"Ye..."_ he cleared his throat, _"yeah, go ahead."_

"I just got off the phone with Mike Briar." She waited for the reaction she knew was coming.

 _"Briar! What in the hell are you doing talking to that psycho?"_ Jack practically yelled.

"He's got connections and we needed to find out where those weapons came from." Matty sighed seeing Mac's confused look she held a finger up indicating he should wait a minute before commenting.

Riley was searching the name with no luck.

 _"What'd he say?"_ Jack asked the anger evident in his voice.

"According to him, most of those weapons were supposed to be headed to Afghanistan eight years ago, but the plane went down and was never recovered."

She paused getting ready for Jack's reaction to what she had to say next. "He also said that there was a shipment of cash on the plane."

 _"How much?"_ Jack asked pointedly.

"A hundred and twenty million, small bills." Matty sat down waiting for Jack to process what she had just said.

 _"Son of a bitch!"_ Jack didn't elaborate.

Mac had been watching the screen and he could have sworn Jack's pace had quickened.

"Um, Jack, you're at the LZ, you can stop now." Mac said still not knowing what was going on.

Jack stopped. _"Where's my exfil?"_ He asked abruptly.

 _Yep, definitely pissed._ Mac thought.

"Five minutes," Matty said checking her phone.

Five minutes passed in tense silence.

On the screen they could see the top view of a Blackhawk helicopter and hear the beat of the rotors through Jack's com.

 _"My rides here, thanks Matty, I owe you one darlin."_ Jack said, all the anger gone from his voice.

"You're welcome Jack... and don't ever call me darlin," she smiled.

Jack watched as the cable was lowered. When it was within reach, he grabbed the hook and clipped it into his vest. Waving his hand over his head, the winch started to pull him up.

As he was being raised, the helicopter gained in elevation and started flying back the way they'd come in.

Jack twisted around and looked over the terrain. The smoke from the two buildings and weapons he'd destroyed were still visible.

When he reached the cabin of the helicopter, the helmeted crew chief smiled and helped him into the crew compartment.

 _"Hey you guys, I'm in, see ya when I get back."_ Jack yelled trying to talk over the noise of the engines.

He couldn't hear their response.

To be continued...

Hope you enjoyed. I've had a few people ask if I was ever in the military. The answer is no. Been around it with friends and family but not to the effect that I can recite ranks etc. So, for any veterans or military buffs that happen to read this, please know that I have the utmost respect for our military personnel and any mistakes or misconceptions are purely accidental. Anybody know or figure out what rank Jack would have held in Delta?

As always, please point out any mistakes or continuity errors, I'd appreciate it.


	14. Chapter 14

A/N: Thank you for the reviews, I'm glad you are still enjoying the story. Thanks to Dlwells51 for being my sounding board. And a special shout out to SlippedHalo8186 for some rank explanations. More on that in the ending A/N's.

Warnings: None really

Disclaimer: I don't own anything having to do with the show... If I did, we'd have better previews for the next episode.

Chapter 14

0-0-0

As soon as Jack was in the Blackhawk, the crew chief handed him a headset.

Jack removed his helmet and donned the headset, nodding to the two men in the crew compartment, "Thanks for the ride boys,"

"Your welcome sir." Jack heard one of the pilots over the com.

Jack pulled his map out and stood, crouching he made his way to the cockpit.

Jack stuck his head into the cockpit and pointed to coordinates on the map he'd marked. "I need you to make a pit stop, have to pick up a guy that didn't make it."

The co-pilot looked at Jack. "Sir, begging your pardon, but you don't look like you're ready for another trip on the cable, why don't you go sit down and let Doc check you out. We'll pass on the coordinates."

Jack wanted to do just that, but if he did, he wouldn't have been able to relax, knowing he'd left Bob in the woods. "Look, son... I made a promise and I intend to keep it. There isn't anybody around to fire at us right now, but there could be later."

Jack looked away from the co-pilot to the pilot. "We're already in the area so unless you want me to take over the stick, do me a favor and get on over there will ya."

The pilot was an older man, he looked at his co-pilot. "Don't worry Bell," he said to his co-pilot. "Delta operators always look like this." He nodded at Jack, "We'll head over there, shouldn't take too long, right?"

Jack sighed, "no, it shouldn't, thank you." Jack headed back to the crew compartment. He heard over the headset. "Be there in 3, Cavitt, get hooked up, you're going down to give the Sergeant a hand."

Jack hadn't told them anything about his former attachment to Delta. "I know you? I usually remember my pilots."

The pilot's voice came over the headset, "No sir, you wouldn't remember me, last time I picked you up was off the top of a mountain in Afghanistan. You passed out as soon as you got in the bird."

"Yeah? Well, I was probably just taking a nap." Jack smiled and winked at the crew chief. "Name's Jack by the way, I haven't been a Sergeant for a long time."

"Long sir, co-pilot is Hill and you've met Crew Chief Douglas and we brought along Doc Cavitt." The pilot said introducing his crew.

Jack nodded to the crew chief and medic. "Well, Long, thanks for the ride... again." He said over the headset.

"Welcome Jack, coming up on the site. Going to hold at one hundred, then peel off."

"Copy that, we'll give you a call when we're ready for pick-up." Jack said as the crew chief was hooking him into the winch.

Ten minutes later, Jack was back in the helicopter. He and Cavitt had placed Spooky Bob in a body bag.

His final task complete, Jack sat back and closed his eyes. He hadn't been sitting there for more than thirty seconds when he felt a hand on his shoulder.

Opening his eyes, he was greeted by the concerned look of the flight medic. "Sir, you should really let me check you out."

Jack cleared his throat. "Cavitt right?"

"Yes sir."

"I am too tired to do much of anything, let alone get poked and prodded. And it's just Jack, leave the sir out of it." Jack eyed the young medic. "Got some busted ribs, a messed up shoulder and everything hurts." Jack gave the man a serious look.

"So, nothing that _you_ can do, unless you've got a nice cold beer and an entire bottle of vicodin in that bag of yours, lemme get some sleep."

"I can't do anything about the beer, but I've got some morphine, at least let me take care of that shoulder." Cavitt pointed to Jack's shoulder.

Jack waved him off, "cant do morphine, makes me puke, and I already reset my shoulder."

"I've got fentanyl sir, and I wasn't talking about the dislocation, you've got a wound in the back of your shoulder." Cavitt said as he was drawing up the medication.

"Jack, you keep refusing my medic's services, I'm gonna set this bird down and Crew Chief Douglas will kick you out... Make you walk home." Long said over the headset.

Jack was too tired to argue any longer. "Yes sir." He turned to the medic, "alright Doc, do your worst."

0-0-0

Mac was exhausted, he looked around the room at his friends. Everyone looked a little disheveled, even Matty seemed less intimidating at the moment.

Riley closed her computer and sat back on the couch. "How'd you find out about the weapons?" She asked looking at Matty.

"And who's Mike Briar?" Mac asked never having heard Jack mention the name.

"Yeah, I couldn't find anything on him," Riley chimed in.

"A hundred and twenty million dollars goes missing and this is the first we've heard of it? That would have been all over the news." Bozer said, adding his two cents. "Right?"

Matty sat down. She looked at each one of them then settled on Mac. "The money and weapons were for an operation that would have supposedly given us intel on the whereabouts of Bin Laden." She let the gravity of her words sink in.

"As for Mike Briar, he was with the agency and had been conducting operations in an area that Jack's unit was working." Matty paused.

"Jack and his team had built a rapport with several elders, and was gathering intel on Taliban forces in the area, where possible IED's were being planted, the works. Briar messed that up."

"In a round about way, he was responsible for the deaths of those elders. Subsequently, the locals turned on Jack's unit believing they were responsible. Jack and his team entered the village and were immediately attacked by the Taliban. Jack and his team were on the run for over two weeks until they were finally picked up on a mountain top." She sighed, "Jack lost two of his men because of what Briar did. Or at least that's the way Jack sees it."

She looked at Mac, "you met Jack shortly after that."

Matty sighed and stood. Jack's not going to be back for another eight or nine hours, we all need some rest.

"Bozer, you and Riley make sure Mac gets home." She walked to the table picking up the pain medication. Shaking out two pills, and grabbing a bottle of water, she walked up to Mac. "Here, you're way overdue Blondie."

Mac took the pills without protest. "Thank you Matty, and thank you for getting Jack out." He swallowed the pills. "What are you going to tell Langley?"

"I'm going to tell them they need to keep better track of their weapons next time. And if they want to arm and train people, don't ask my agents to clean up their mess when one of their pet projects goes rogue." At their stunned looks, she held up her phone.

"What? Did you think I was just texting my BFF's the entire operation?" Matty smiled and looked at Riley. "Not everything is available in the cyber world, this one took some digging."

Bozer was still confused, "does that mean all those people Jack killed were CIA agents?"

"No Bozer, they were possibly trained and may have been supplied by the CIA at some point, but not CIA." Mac explained still trying to get his own thoughts straight.

"So these guys are sort of like the Taliban then. We arm them and then end up having to fight them, that's just great." Bozer said shaking his head.

Matty headed for the door, "sometimes things don't turn out the way we want them to Bozer... Get used to it."

Matty turned looking at the trio, "go home, get some sleep... That's an order." She said and walked out of the room, phone to her ear.

Riley looked at her friends, everyone looked as tired as she felt, Mac even more so. "Here, Boze, I'll help you clean this up." She held a hand up stopping Mac from pitching in, "you go sit, we don't need Matty on our case."

Mac rolled his eyes but did as he was told.

Mac watched Bozer silently clean up the groceries he'd brought for sandwiches, thinking, _until recently, Bozer viewed the world as one big potential movie plot. Fake blood, guns and well defined bad guys. I've ruined that for him._

Bozer looked up as if he could feel Mac watching him, "Mac, you mind if we stop by the store on the way home? I want to pick some stuff up to make burgers later when Jack gets back."

Riley looked up at Bozer then shifted her gaze to Mac.

Mac was surprised at the request. He didn't think Bozer would want anything to do with Jack after he'd seen what the man could do.

Bozer recognized the look on Mac's face. Bozer stood and began to explain. "Look, I am so not ok with what Jack did but I understand now, ok. I get it, good people have to do bad things sometimes to protect the people they care about. It just so happens, Jack got seriously screwed."

One corner of Mac's mouth turned up. Bozer my friend, you never cease to amaze me, he thought.

Bozer continued after seeing the smirk on Mac's face. "I just figure he's been running around shooting bad guys and blowing stuff up, he'll probably be hungry when he gets back, have a few beers, the usual... that's all." He said shrugging his shoulders and returning to cleaning up the mess, with the bounce back in his step.

At that, Mac's smile faded. He sighed, and prepared to put a damper on his friend's good spirits. "Boze, I don't think Jack is going to want to hang out too much. He's been through a lot, so he might seem a bit... off."

Finished picking up the groceries, Bozer smiled at Mac. "I get it, dudes gotta be tired, but have you ever known Jack to turn down one of my world famous double cheeseburgers, I don't think so, come on bro, let's get outa here."

The trio walked out the door, Mac, wishing Bozer would just decide to cancel his future dinner plans.

0-0-0

Jack sucked air through his teeth, "what's it look like Doc?" He asked as the flight medic inspected the back of his shoulder.

"Can't tell, would be better if you took off most of your gear, so I could get a better assessment." Cavitt said eyeing Jack.

Jack looked at the medic and sighed, "gimme a hand will ya," Jack said reaching for the clip to release the M4. "I'll take care of the weapons, if you don't mind, gonna need a hand with the vest though."

Leaving the M4 in his lap, Jack leaned forward, lifting the strap of the sniper rifle over his head with a grunt. He ejected the clip, pointing the weapon at the floor of the copter, opening the bolt and ejecting the round.

Jack stuck the magazine in his vest and handed the empty weapon to the crew chief. "Douglas right?"

"Yes sir." The crew chief replied.

"Don't get too used to that thing, It's not staying on this bird when I get off." Jack smiled and repeated the process with the M4.

"Alright doc, let's do this." Jack said to the medic, as he undid the velcro on the left while Cavitt released the straps on the right.

As soon as the compression of the vest was released, Jack groaned. "Doc, you got any more of that happy juice?"

Cavitt took in the pained expression on Jack's face. "Sorry Jack, can't, I give you any more and you'll be laying on the deck drooling on yourself." He said with a smile.

"No problem, Doc, just thought I'd ask," he grunted as he shifted positions, trying to get comfortable, without success.

Cavitt pulled a pair of trauma shears out of the pouch on his belt. He held the scissors up for Jack to see. "You want me to cut your long sleeve or you think you can get out of that shirt?"

"I can get out of it," Jack said starting to undo the buttons.

Cavitt and Douglas helped Jack get his arms out of the sleeves. He looked up at Douglas nodding a silent thank you.

Cavitt looked at Jack, "wanna try for the t-shirt?" He said holding up the scissors again.

"Nah, go ahead and cut it, got a million of em." Jack replied tiredly.

Cavitt started at the hem of the short sleeve, cutting the shirt up the side and under Jack's arm pit. Readjusting, to the top of the sleeve, he continued to the collar.

The shirt fell away from Jack's right side. Cavitt nodded at Douglas, "alright Jack, lean forward just a bit."

Jack did as he was told and the crew chief slipped the remnants of the t-shirt off of Jack's left arm.

With the shirt removed, the medic got a good look at Jack's upper body. "Well, Jack, looks like you're going home with some souvenirs."

Leaning over to get a better look at the wound on the back of Jack's shoulder, he reached down and blindly grabbed Jack's forearm. "Lift your arm up a little, sir, like you're firing a weapon."

Jack did as he was told. He could feel something over and above the pain in the shoulder joint. "What is it?" he said trying to look over his shoulder. "I can feel something, can't tell what."

Sir, keep your head forward please. Cavitt's head popped up, "Douglas, hand me my bag," he said releasing Jack's arm and sitting back on his heels to look Jack in the eye.

"Well sir, you may have a bullet or a piece of shrapnel in your shoulder from what I can tell," he said, grabbing his bag and opening a bandage. "I can't tell how deep it is, so I'm just going to bandage it for now."

Cavitt leaned over Jack's shoulder again taking one last look at the wound before putting the bandage in place. "You got any other holes in you I should know about?" He asked eyeing Jack's lower body, while tying the ends of the bandage around Jack's shoulder and upper arm.

"Don't think so, and you are _not_ cutting my pants off, my legs are just fine thank you." Jack said smiling.

Jack held up his arms showing the medic the minor wounds scattered on his forearms, "don't suppose you've got a box of band-aids."

"As a matter of fact, I do, you want the Sesame Street or Marvel pattern?" The medic joked, while grabbing a few swabs and antibiotic ointment from his bag. "Some of these might sting a little." He said warning Jack.

Jack smiled "ain't nothin, think the good stuff's kickin in, do your worst."

Cavitt returned the smile and began to clean and inspect the wounds bandaging a few of the larger ones.

Jack looked around the helicopter while Cavitt cleaned and treated the small punctures and scrapes. "Hey, this bird isn't gonna make it all the way to L.A., we planning on refueling somewhere?"

Long answered from the cockpit. "No, sir, we'll be setting down at Soto Cano in twenty-three minutes. There's a KC-130 waiting there to take you and a bunch of Marines back home for leave."

"We're just about timed out, so we'll stay there to get refit and refueled." Long finished.

"Great, perfect ending to a screwed up mission, gotta ride home with a bunch of Marines." Jack joked, "at least we beat em last year, fourteen losses in a row was a bit hard to swallow."

Various agreements could be heard over the headsets. Jack sat back and let Cavitt finish up. He closed his eyes and let the hum of the rotors lull him to sleep.

0-0-0

Mac had waited in the car while Bozer went shopping. He had tried to relax and get some rest on the drive, but he couldn't figure out if Bozer was going through some type of mental breakdown or if he was really ok.

He hadn't expected the sudden change in his friend's attitude toward Jack. Bozer had always been a bit wary of Jack, but they were friends. Seeing Jack in combat was a disconcerting thing to watch, even for him.

When they reached the house, while Bozer was unpacking the groceries, Mac sat on a bar stool.

He watched Bozer, trying to come up with the right words for his friend.

If Bozer was really genuinely accepting what Jack had done, Mac didn't want to screw that up.

On the other hand he thought, _if he's not ok, I need to make him understand that avoiding the issue isn't going to make it go away._

"Boze, you ok?" He asked

Bozer stopped putting the groceries away and looked at Mac. "Yeah, I'm fine, don't need any help Mac." He moved to the spice rack. "You should go get some rest, I'm just gonna make my spice blend and get the burgers made so they have a chance to marinate." He said quickly avoiding eye contact.

"Boze, that's not what I meant," he sighed "I'm asking if _you_ are ok with, all of this. It's a lot to process."

Bozer stopped and turned to look at Mac. "Honestly, no, I'm not ok, I'm not ok with any of this."

Mac waited for him to continue, watching Bozer open the package of hamburger. Bozer's hands froze. "Boze?"

Bozer suddenly turned and ran out of the kitchen down the hall to the bathroom.

Mac slowly followed his friend.

Standing in the hallway, he could hear Bozer throwing up.

Wanting to give Bozer his privacy, he returned to the kitchen and put the hamburger back in the fridge.

Mac grabbed a couple bottles of water and moved to the couch. He sat down and waited for his friend.

A few minutes later, Bozer shuffled back down the hallway towards the living room, looking up he saw Mac sitting waiting for him.

Mac held up the bottle of water indicating with a nod for his friend to sit. "You ok, Boze?"

Bozer sat on the couch taking the offered water. "Yeah, sorry about that." He said, opening the water. "I don't know what happened."

"Nothing to be sorry about Boze, you've experienced a lot these last few days." Mac looked down at his hand, flexing it. "We all have."

Bozer leaned back on the couch. "I just... I don't know how I feel, I mean Jack can be a scary dude when he wants to be but this... this is so different." Bozer raised his head to look at Mac. "He just killed those guys and kept on going, like it didn't even bother him."

Mac saw the turmoil in his friend's eyes. "Boze, Jack is a soldier first and foremost, but if you think this stuff doesn't bother him, you're wrong. It does." Mac paused to let his words sink in.

"You have to understand something Boze. In combat, there isn't time to let emotion get in the way. A soldier that does isn't going to last long."

Bozer sat there suddenly finding a loose thread in his jeans very interesting. "I understand Mac, it's just, this is Jack we're talking about. He's always joking and even though I think he's a little off sometimes, he seemed like, I don't know... normal I guess." Bozer abandoned the thread and looked at Mac.

Mac smiled, understanding Bozer's line of thinking. "Jack is a normal guy, Boze, he just happens to have a skill set that most people don't ever see put to use. It wasn't like he was supposed to go over there and kill all those soldiers, it just happened." Mac shook his head and sighed.

"If Jack would have scrubbed the mission as soon as Bob was killed, believe me, I would have been happy about that. But, that's not how Jack thinks. He was there to do a job, which was _supposed_ to be reconnaissance and capture." Mac said, not only trying to explain to Bozer but trying to explain it to himself as well.

"Yeah, I know, it wasn't supposed to go down like it did." Bozer rolled his eyes, "can't get a lot of that stuff outa my head, you know."

"Yeah, Boze, I know exactly what you mean. Look, Jack didn't go there with the intention of getting into a firefight, as much as he seems to like guns, getting into a firefight was the last thing Jack wanted to do, they forced his hand and he reacted." Mack took a deep breath, thinking about how close Jack had come to being killed.

"Most Delta operators pride themselves on getting in and out without anyone knowing they were even there." Mac laid his head back on the couch cushion looking at the ceiling, "the fact that this whole thing was less than up to snuff, only makes it worse."

"Yeah, that definitely sucks, you think Jack's really ok with all of this?" Bozer asked curious.

"I don't know Boze, I hope so." I still have a hard time wrapping my head around some of the stuff he does, I'm just glad he's coming home in one piece."

Bozer laughed, a genuine laugh. Mac looked at his friend wondering if he'd pushed him over the edge and he was having a mental breakdown. "Boze?"

"I'm sorry, Mack," Bozer said while still laughing. "But did you hear what you just said?"

Mac looked perplexed. "I said I was glad he was coming home."

"Yeah, I know that, so am I... I guess." Bozer stood up still smiling, "Bro, if you have a hard time trying to figure out the stuff he does, how do you think the rest of us feel watching you do your thing?" Bozer walked away heading toward his bedroom. "I'm gonna go to bed Mac, I'll drive you to the airport to pick Jack up."

Bozer paused before going to his room, "good night Mac."

"Good night Boze, and thanks." Mac sat in silence running through the events of the past few days.

Suddenly very tired and sore, he lay his head back and closed his eyes. _Jack's coming home, Bozer's gonna be ok._ He thought before letting the exhaustion take over and he fell asleep.

0-0-0

When the Blackhawk had landed at Soto Cano, Jack had only minutes to board the KC-130.

Cavitt helped him out of the helicopter watching every move, Jack had put his long sleeve shirt back on covering the bandages and spectacular bruises along his back and side.

Jack reached back, grabbing his vest and sliding it out of the helicopter, letting out a groan, not ready for the weight of the vest in his hand. "Ever notice how things get heavier the closer you get to home." He commented to no one in particular.

Douglas exited the helicopter with both of Jack's rifles and his helmet. "Here you go Jack, I've got to get this bird serviced and fueled, have a safe trip home." He said as he walked away.

Jack clipped the helmet to his vest and took the rifles, slinging the straps over his shoulder wincing at the pressure on the bandage. "Thanks chief, appreciate the ride."

Long walked around the front of the helicopter coming to a stop in front of Jack. "Well Jack, good to see you walking off my bird this time around." He said holding out his hand.

"Thanks man, appreciate the ride." Jack smiled shaking the pilot's hand.

"Better get movin, don't want to miss my flight," Jack said as he walked away from the helicopter headed toward the waiting KC-130.

Jack turned and yelled "you guys make it back to L.A, look me up, I'll buy the beer!"

The crew smiled and waved as Jack made it to the transport.

Once on board the large plane, Jack was greated by wide eyed stares from the six Marines that were on board.

He knew he must be a site to look at, after running around the forest for the last 24 hours.

He just nodded as he passed, making his way to the front of the plane.

Jack lay his rifles down in a seat and set the vest on top ensuring the weight would keep them in place.

Sitting down in the canvas seat, he laughed to himself. _I must be tired, this seat actually feels comfortable._ He thought as he felt the plane moving.

Jack leaned back and closed his eyes.

To be continued...

I hope you enjoyed this, I had a hard time with Bozer in this one. Still not sure if I did him justice. Anyway, Jack's rank... Trying to find detailed information about Delta is just about next to impossible. There are some great sources for Army ranks and even special forces ranks and what the job titles are. In this story I picked Sergeant as Jack's rank based on the information from the Army and from SlippedHalo8186 who has a reliable source. Anyway, it's fiction so...


	15. Chapter 15

A/N: Thank you all for the reviews. Huge shout out to Dlwells51 for the speedy turnaround. This thing would have commas and periods and misspelled words in all the wrong places if it weren't for Dl. Apparently, my punctuation hasn't improved since the beginning of the story. :-) Sorry, this one's shorter than my usual. We've been extremely busy at work the past couple of days. Anyway, hope you enjoy.

Warnings: None

Disclaimer: I still do not own anything having to do with the show. If I did, it would be on tonight. I need a freaking Jack Mac fix in the worst way. Somebody write something. ;-)

Chapter 15

0-0-0

Bozer shook Mac's shoulder. "Mac, time to get up, have to get ready to go."

Mac woke instantly, staring at Bozer processing what he was saying and getting up at the same time. "I'm ready, you ready to go?" Mac said looking toward the door.

Bozer smiled and put his hands up, "whoa, slow down Mac, I don't mean to be rude but maybe you should go take a shower first." Bozer crinkled his nose for effect. "We've got time."

Mac looked embarrassed, "oh, yeah, probably a good idea, thanks Boze." He said as he headed toward his bedroom.

0-0-0

Jack woke with a start, it took him a second to remember where he was at. Looking around the plane, he saw several of the marines asleep in the chairs.

Feeling stiff, Jack moved to stand up and stretch his legs. Instantly he regretted the attempt. He felt a sharp pain in his side and his back and shoulder throbbed. You're a hot mess Jack, he thought.

Rummaging through his pack, he found the last of the ibuprofen. Opening the blister packs, he popped the pills in his mouth. Looking to his left, someone had left him a bottle of water on the seat.

He twisted the cap off and washed down the pills. Looking up, he saw the load master walking toward him with a brown paper bag in his hand.

The load master leaned in close so Jack could hear, "The boys wanted me to give this to you sir," the load master said then stood looking back toward the marines.

Jack took the bag wondering what was in it. He leaned forward motioning for the load master to come closer, "Thanks, how long till we land?" He asked opening the bag.

"Thirty minutes sir." The load master answered then stood and walked away.

Jack smiled when he started taking the contents out of the bag.

He spent the remaining thirty minutes savoring the apple turnovers, washing them down with a coke.

0-0-0

Mac got into the passenger seat, after Bozer got in he told Mac, "Got a call from Riley, says her bike won't start, we're going to pick her up on the way."

Mac started thinking of all the different reasons the bike wouldn't start. "What did it sound like when she tried to start it, did she check the battery? Could be the fuel filter or maybe the..."

Bozer listened patiently while Mac ran through every possible scenario and what he could be used to fix it.

After they had picked Riley up, the conversation started all over again. Bozer pushed a little harder on the gas pedal.

If Riley didn't know better, she would have thought Bozer wanted to get to the airport just to get away from the conversation.

When they arrived at the base, they followed their escort to a large hangar.

Pulling up to the hangar, they could see two black SUV's parked in front.

Mac looked at the vehicles and thought, one of those is ours, who belongs to the other one.

He didn't have to wait long for the answer, Matty and two men in suits walked out of the hangar.

Mac didn't recognize either of the men, but there was something about them that made him uncomfortable.

Before Bozer got out, Riley asked, "who're those guys with Matty?"

Mac was studying the men closely, he could see they were both carrying weapons under their jackets.

"If I had to guess, I'd say CIA." Mac said as he started to get out of the car.

The trio walked toward Matty and the unidentified men. "Matty." Mac said warily.

"Mac," she greeted. Turning to the men, she introduced them, "Agent Briar, Agent Rogers, this is MacGyver, Riley and Bozer."

Riley and Bozer's eyebrows shot up at the introduction of Briar. Mac studied the man.

He was tall and muscular, not what Mac had pictured. Turning from the agents as if they weren't there, Mac asked, "Matty, what's going on?"

"Agent Briar and Agent Rogers are here to ask Jack a few questions." She said with a tone that left no doubt she was not happy.

Mac looked at Briar, "questions about what, exactly?" Mac asked without hiding his dislike for the man.

Briar smiled, showing bleached white teeth, "I just want to find out of ole J.D. happened to see a stack full of cash while he was busy blowing up the countryside."

Riley stepped forward, "Jack didn't say anything about any money so there wasn't any there."

Mac was surprised by Riley's sudden defensive tone.

Briar stepped toward Riley towering over her, "I'm sorry, and you are?"

Before Mac could react, Bozer puffed his chest out and stepped next to Riley, "She's the one that can get satellite coverage and intel on anything, unlike you and your friend there," he said glaring at Rogers. "who apparently doesn't really care who gets killed. Sorry for your loss by the way." Bozer backed away.

Briar stepped back smiling a feral smile. He looked at Matty "Quite the spunky bunch you got here Matty."

Without taking the bait, Matty said, "when Jack gets here, just ask your questions and get out of here Mike." She glared at him. "If Jack doesn't kill you first."

Mac was still sizing up Briar and Rogers when they heard the plane. They watched it land and taxi toward the hangar.

The noise of the propellers drowning out everything else, Mac walked over to Rogers and leaned toward the agent. "What's the deal with you and Briar?"

Rogers looked at Mac, "I was told to back him up."

"Back him up for what?" Mac asked nervously.

Rogers shrugged, "He said some crazy ex Delta guy is coming in on a plane, might cause some trouble. I guess they've got history."

The plane came to a stop and the back ramp opened. Several Marines exited the plane and walked toward the waiting bus.

Mac started to tell Rogers he had it all wrong and that Briar was the problem when the agents started toward the plane.

Matty turned to Mac, Riley and Bozer, "You three stay here, if there's any trouble, I don't want any of you involved."

Mac started to protest but was cut off by Matty. "I mean it Mac, you need to stay here. Briar knows how to push people's buttons. I don't want any of you to be near that man when Jack sees him, you understand me?" She said, speaking to them as if they were her children.

"Yes ma'am," Bozer said automatically, Riley's acknowledgement was a bit slower.

Matty eyed each one of them then turned and walked towards the plane.

"What the hell Mac, what's going on?" Riley asked watching Matty walk away.

"I don't know," Mac answered, watching the back of the plane, waiting to see Jack.

0-0-0

As soon as the plane landed and was taxiing, Jack mentally prepared himself for the aches and pains he knew were coming.

Standing up, Jack instantly turned around and leaned over, placing his hands on the back of the seat to support his upper body while trying to get the sharp pain in his back and ribs to stop.

He had become incredibly stiff on the long trip home, places he didn't know he'd hurt started to make their presence known. Finally getting his breath back, he stood up.

Once the plane came to a stop, Jack slowly leaned over and picked up his vest and rifles. Holding the vest in his left hand and slinging the rifles over his right shoulder, he made his way to the back ramp.

When Jack exited the plane, he was beyond tired. Looking up, he saw Matty and two men in suits coming toward him. Here we go, he thought. Time for the dog and pony show.

Seeing Mac, Riley and Bozer standing off in the distance, well this can't be good, he thought.

As he got closer to to the men in the suits, Jack recognized Briar. Son of a bitch, Jack said under his breath. All the aches and pains becoming distant as his adrenaline started pumping.

Matty stood in front of Briar and the other man and said something to them before turning and walking toward Jack.

Jack stopped when Matty got close, she took a second to look him up and down taking in the state of his clothes and his haggard appearance. "

"Jack, don't do anything stupid, Briar is just here to ask about the money, that's all. Just answer his damn questions and we can get you out of here, ok?" She said as Jack was staring daggers at Briar the entire time.

Jack moved past Matty without acknowledging he'd heard her.

"Jack? Did you hear me? No trouble... you got it." She said to his back.

Jack turned his head back towards her. "I got it, I ain't gonna start nothin," he turned his gaze back to Briar, "but I'll damn well finish it." He said under his breath.

Mac watched the entire exchange between Jack and Matty, interpreting Jack's body language, "This isn't good," he said as he started to walk towards the group.

"Mac, where you going? Matty told us to stay here," Bozer said then stared wide eyed as Riley started to follow.

Not wanting to be left behind, Bozer followed the pair.

0-0-0

"J.D! You look like shit man," Briar said glaring as Jack approached.

Jack stopped in front of Briar. He looked at Rogers, seeming to size him up. The agent suddenly became very uncomfortable and shifted his feet, putting some distance between the two men and himself.

"What do you want Mike?" Jack asked.

Briar turned to Rogers, "That's what I like about ole J.D. here, he's always straight to the point." Turning back to Jack, lowering his voice to a menacing level, "Aren't you Jack."

"Cut the shit Mike, ask me what you came here to ask so I can get out of here," Jack said, his eyes shifting quickly behind Briar to see his friends approaching.

"Fine, have it your way," Briar said still glaring at Jack. "What'd you do with the cash Jack? You stash it somewhere for later?"

"What money? All I saw were weapons, I didn't see any money." Jack answered.

Matty was standing by Jack's side, seeing Mac, Riley and Bozer approaching she scowled and held a hand up for them to stop.

"Come on now Jack, I know how it is. You see all that cash and think early retirement right? Wouldn't take much for somebody like you to stash it away safe somewhere and go back for it later." Briar said looking over his shoulder seeing Mac and company standing a few feet away.

Jack leaned toward Briar menacingly and said, "Get this through your head, I didn't see any God damned money, all I saw were weapons and I destroyed those. So, if that's all, I am tired, and I'm sore, and I'm leaving." Jack looked at Rogers, "you know this guy will screw you six ways from Sunday if he gets the chance, right?"

Jack started to walk past Briar. "You self righteous son of a bitch, don't walk away from me." Briar said as he grabbing Jack's arm as he passed.

Mac knew what was going to happen if he didn't try to intervene. Jack looked down at the hand on his arm, shifted his feet and was starting to tense when Mac stepped up to Briar.

"Look, if Jack said there wasn't any money, you can accept that as fact." Mac said as he placed his hand on Briar's forearm, effectively putting himself between Jack and Briar.

Bozer and Riley stepped forward, concern evident on both of their faces.

"Now, we've all had a very long couple of days and I'm sure Jack will write everything in his report but right now, we have to go." Mac continued trying to diffuse the situation.

Jack yanked his arm out of Briars grip, stifling the groan at the movement. He turned, stepping around Mac, and squared off with Briar. "Like the kid said, it'll be in my report." Jack said slowly looking Briar in the eye as if he were looking through him.

Briar stepped back, hands raised, "No problem J.D., I know where to find you." He said shifting his eyes to each of Jack's friends then back to Jack. "And your friends."

Jack heard the underlying threat, shifted his feet and started to move toward Briar when he felt a hand on his arm. Turning quickly, ready for a fight, he froze when he realized it was Mac that had stopped him. It took him a second to relax his arms.

"Jack, come on, he's not worth it. Let's just get out of here." Mac said turning Jack toward the vehicles.

Matty had walked over to Rogers, "you need to get Briar out of here before somebody gets hurt." She said, watching Mac lead Jack away.

Briar, not one used to people ignoring him, started walking toward Jack and Mac.

Rogers yelled, "Briar!" At the same time Matty yelled Jack's name as a warning.

Everyone stopped but Jack and Briar. Jack instantly spun out of Mac's grip, dropped his vest and rifles, reached down and drew his pistol.

Briar was reaching for his own weapon, Jack grabbed the front of his shirt, swept his leg behind Briar's knees and shoved the agent in the chest, taking him down to the ground.

Everyone was frozen at this new turn of events. Mac recovered quickly and started to make his way towards Jack.

Bozer followed with the intent of stopping his friend from getting in the middle of the deadly encounter.

Leaning over the stunned agent, Jack placed the barrel of the pistol over Briar's heart and leaned close to his ear. "If you ever threaten my friends again, or even so much as look the wrong way at one of them, I will end you."

Jack glanced at Mac, then back to Briar, Mac knew instantly that Jack wasn't going to pull the trigger and he stopped moving toward the men.

"One of these days when you're out for coffee, or getting the newspaper, or even visiting that little Italian restaurant you go to every Friday..." Briar's eyes widened at the mention of the restaurant.

"I can take you out any time I want from so far away, I'll be sipping my tea before you feel the bullet hit you right here." Jack placed his index finger on Briars forehead. "You understand me?"

Briar didn't answer right away, Jack cocked the pistol for effect. "Do you understand me?"

"I understand." Briar said.

Jack reached over and pulled Briar's pistol out from under his jacket. He stood up, holstered his own pistol and took Briar's apart, placing the barrel in his pocket and dropping the rest of the pieces on the ground as he started walking towards his gear.

Bozer, Riley and Mac met Jack at the pile. Jack leaned over with a grunt and picked up the rifles. He moved to reach down for the vest when Bozer stepped up, "I got that Jack, you've got enough weight to carry."

To be continued...

I hope you enjoyed this. Still working on the rest of this story, this chapter changed quite a bit from the original version. I don't know if I'm happy with it, but here it is. I secretly think I'm avoiding the conversations between the characters as much as they are. When in doubt... write action. :-)

Chapter 16 will be up on Saturday. We've got a lot of stuff on the schedule tomorrow and I plan on soaking up every minute of the new episode tomorrow night. Thanks again for your comments, as usual, please let me know if you see any mistakes.

-Gib-


	16. Chapter 16

A/N: Thank you for the reviews. As always, thanks to Dlwells51 for keeping my comma shotgun pointed in the right direction. This is the last chapter, Epilogue to follow. Thanks a bunch for sticking with it.

Warnings: None

Disclaimer: I don't own anything having to do with the show... dammit!

Chapter 16

0-0-0

Jack sat in the back seat of the Excursion, feeling every pothole and dip in the road.

Matty hung up her phone and turned in the front passenger seat to look at Mac in the back seat. "Doctor Wexford should be at the infirmary when we get there."

Mac looked across the back seat to his friend. Jack's eyes were closed and Mac could see the pain lines in his face. "That's good, Jack really took a beating on this one."

Jack cracked one eye open looking sideways at Mac. "Jack can hear you, and most of this was done by a damn tree."

Mac smiled, "must've been a very tough tree."

"You have no idea." Jack said with a grimace as the vehicle hit another pothole in the road.

Matty looked at her driver, "Johns, do you think maybe you could avoid the rest of the potholes please?"

"I'm sorry ma'am, after the rains we had, the roads are pretty beat up." He said as they hit another bump in the road causing Jack to suck air through his teeth.

"You alright Jack? We're almost there," Mac asked, concerned for his friend.

"Yeah, woulda popped a few more IB's before we landed s'all." Jack half smiled. "Wish Cavitt was here, he had the good stuff."

"Who's Cavitt, do I know him?" Mac asked already knowing he didn't, but wanted to keep Jack's mind off of the pain he was feeling.

"Nah, he was the medic on the chopper that picked me up. Thanks for that by the way Matty."

"You're welcome Jack, figured you didn't want to wait for the company to get around to it when they felt like it." She said, turning in her seat to watch Jack's reaction at the mention of the CIA.

When he didn't react, she looked at Mac who raised his eyebrows and shrugged his shoulder.

"Ma'am, the car behind us is falling back. Do they know where we're going?" Johns asked, checking his mirrors and his speed.

"They're fine," Mac said trying to turn in his seat to look back. The move put pressure on his shoulder and he hissed.

Jack's eyes opened and he stared at Mac. "You ok?"

Mac cringed, "yeah, just moved the wrong way, forgot about the arm."

The SUV hit a particularly large bump which caused Jack to let out a string of curses. By the time he was done, Johns had sunk a little farther into his seat. "Sorry about that, forgot about the curb." The driver genuinely apologized. "We're here sir," he said, bringing the vehicle to a stop.

Mac got out and walked around to the passenger side of the vehicle. Jack had already opened his door and was in the process of getting out, Mac put a hand out to help, "I got this Mac, I've been running around the forest with busted ribs, walking on the pavement is going to be a breeze."

Jack got out of the vehicle and went to the rear. "Johns, pop the back will ya?" Jack yelled toward the front of the vehicle.

The back window opened and Jack reached in to get his gear.

Matty walked to the back of the SUV, "Jack what are you doing?"

"I'm gettin my gear, not gonna leave this stuff in the back of your truck. For one, it's not secure, and two, it stinks." He said shouldering the rifles and reaching in to get the vest.

Jack turned at the sound of Bozer's car pulling up to park behind the SUV. Riley and Bozer climbed out of the red and white Volkswagen.

 _"All I'm saying is, now that you're not flipping burgers and have a good paying job, maybe you should get a new car."_ Riley said over the top of the roof.

 _"Says the person who's bike won't start."_ Bozer fired back.

Jack shook his head and turned to the back of the SUV, he pulled the vest out of the Excursion and started for the door.

Bozer walked up beside him, "here, lemme take that for you." He offered holding out his hand towards Jack's vest.

Jack turned to look at Mac and Matty. "You guys should go home and get some rest, I got my keys, I'll drive myself home after I see the Doc." He said, still holding his gear.

"We're fine Jack," Mac said, looking at his friends." Besides, we slept while you were on the flight home. I figure while I'm here, I might as well save myself a trip and talk to Doctor Wexford about my shoulder." Mac said with a glance at the sling.

Jack sighed, handing his vest to Bozer. "Alright, fine, let's get this done then." He said, walking toward the entrance.

Matty went in first and cleared Jack through security. It wasn't often agents came in through the main entrance with as many weapons as Jack was carrying.

Once they cleared security, Matty turned to the group. "I need to go handle a few things, I'll check in with you later. Jack," she paused, I'm glad you're back. Now, get up there and go see Doctor Wexford." She said, then started to walk away.

As if it were an afterthought, Matty stopped and turned to her agents, "And I better not hear anything other than you were completely cooperative, got it?" She spun on her heel and walked away, phone to her ear, not giving them a chance to respond.

Mac and Jack shared a look and continued down the hall to the elevator, with Riley and Bozer in tow.

Once they were in the elevator, Jack pushed the button for the basement. At Mac's questioning look, "I need to drop this stuff off," Jack shrugged his shoulder indicating the rifles. "Won't take a minute."

When they reached the basement, Jack reached out for his vest.

"I got this Jack, I'll just follow you. This thing's heavy by the way," Bozer said lifting the vest.

"Got a bunch of ballistic plates in it. I wouldn't be here if it didn't. Saved my life a few times over the years. And ammunition is heavy in bulk." Jack said matter of factly.

"I've never been down here," Riley said, looking around. "What's down here?"

"Firing ranges and ready rooms for the tactical teams, mostly" Mac answered. "Oh, and a shoot house Jack and I helped design." He finished.

Jack stopped just outside of one of the ready rooms. He reached down and took his vest from Bozer. "I'll be out in a minute." He said pushing the door open. "Be right back."

Jack walked to his locker and placed his hand on the pad, waiting for the telltale click of the locks disengaging.

He slid the doors open, un shouldered the rifles and hung them up in their designated racks. Removing the pistol from the drop holster, he ejected the clip and counted the rounds. Reloading the clip, he inserted it back into the pistol. Repeating the process with his back-up pistol, he placed the weapon in his locker.

Jack sat down, he laid the vest on the bench, and started removing the items he'd taken off on the plane.

Pulling out the bottom drawer, Jack tossed the knee and elbow pads in the drawer, along with his helmet, gloves and glasses.

Seeing the radio in the back pocket on the vest, Jack thought, _gotta return this to the CIA. Don't want to be accused of stealing company property, should have shoved it down Briar's throat._

Jack laid the vest in the bottom of the locker. Looking down at his shirt, he undid the buttons and removed the long sleeve. Lightly kicking the bottom drawer closed, he opened the top drawer and grabbed a clean t-shirt.

Jack put the shirt over his head and was about to run his arm through the sleeve when he heard a series of "Jesus Jack and oh my god and holy crap!" coming from Mac, Riley and Bozer.

Jack quickly and painfully shoved his arms through the sleeves. He stood up glaring at Mac who returned the look. "I told you I'd be out in a minute."

The three friends shared a look. "It's been thirty minutes Jack, we thought you fell asleep or something," Riley said, concerned.

Jack looked at his watch confirming what she had said. "Sorry 'bout that." He said, undoing the velcro and removing the drop holster.

Without any other explanation, Jack reached into the locker and removed his concealed carry holster. Grabbing the loaded pistol, he holstered the weapon and gingerly reached behind his back, clipping the holstered weapon onto his belt under his waistband.

Jack closed the locker, and pulled the t-shirt over his waist to conceal the weapon. Jack walked past his friends and headed toward the door, "Alright, let's get this over with."

Bozer, never one to do well with silence, spoke up immediately. "Jack, you know you're going to see the doctor bro, don't think you really need a gun." He said smiling at Mac, looking for some back-up.

Jack turned around and stopped. "I'm always carrying Boze, it's my job." He said. There was no anger in his voice, he was simply stating a fact. One that neither Bozer nor Riley expected to hear.

The pair shared a look and continued to follow Jack.

Mac caught up to the older man, "hey, you ok? Kinda quiet in there, anything I can help with?"

Jack kept walking toward the elevator but, he looked at Mac and gave a half hearted smile, "Nah, Mac, I'm just tired, and _so_ not looking forward to this."

"Yeah, I know what you mean." Mac said motioning to his shoulder.

The elevator opened and the group headed down the hall to the med unit.

"How long do you think you're going to be out?" Mac asked quickly cataloging the injuries he knew about, the standard recovery time and factored in Jack's standard recovery time.

"I don't know, probably four to six weeks I'm guessing." Jack said tiredly.

The answer surprised Mac, Jack usually cut the standard recovery time in half when asked the same question. Mac started to worry anew.

When they reached the med unit, Doctor Wexford was waiting for Jack.

"Well, Mr. Dalton, I see you never got a chance to take those stitches out. I'll add that to my list." The doctor advised while surveying his patient for obvious injuries.

"If you'll follow me, we'll start with x-rays and go from there."

Mac Riley and Bozer started to follow. Wexford stopped when he noticed Jack's entourage.

"If you folks wouldn't mind taking a seat in the waiting room, I'm sure Mr. Dalton would appreciate that." He looked at Jack for confirmation.

Jack nodded his head and said "Just call me Jack, Doc."

Wexford looked at Mac, "Mac, I'd like to take a look at that shoulder when I finish with Mr., sorry, Jack."

Mac wasn't happy about not being able to go with Jack but he understood. "Yeah sure, Doctor, I'll be right here." Mac said waving at the reception area.

Wexford continued down the hall, Jack in tow. Mac overheard the doctor say, "Matty tells me you dislocated your shoulder..."

0-0-0

Forty five minutes later, Dr. Wexford came out into the waiting room. Mac looked up expectantly, "that was fast," he said, his optimism instantly faded when he took in the look on the doctor's face.

Mac started to panic, "what's wrong? Is Jack ok, what happened? Where's..."

Wexford held up his hands stopping Mac's series of questions. "Slow down Mac, Jack is fine, I just wanted to come out and give you an update."

Wexford sat down in a chair and motioned for Mac to do the same. "Seems Mr. Dalton..."

"Jack." Riley and Bozer said in unison.

Doctor Wexford smiled, "Jack, has a significant injury to his shoulder that will require surgery." He looked at Mac, it's a bit more extensive than your injury so I have called in a specialist."

"Who's the specialist?" Riley asked pulling her computer out of her backpack.

"Dr. Laird, he specializes in shoulder injuries, Mac, I contacted him for your case after your last appointment, just in case you chose to do the surgery." Wexford looked at Riley who was typing furiously.

"As I was saying, Jack, has a significant injury to the shoulder joint that requires repair. We removed a small piece of shrapnel from the back of the shoulder, that doesn't appear to have affected any nerve bundles or structures." Wexford pointed to his own shoulder illustrating what he was saying.

"The main concern is infection, however with the surgery, Jack will be on a series of antibiotics that should alleviate that. And finally, Mr. Dalt... Jack had a slight pneumothorax due to three fractured ribs. Combined with the blow to the back, I'm actually surprised there wasn't a complete collapse of the lung due to the limited ability to draw a complete breath and the length of time between the event and treatment, but we have decompressed the chest and he's breathing normally now."

The trio sat in stunned silence until Mac spoke up. "Can we see him?"

The Doctor smiled, "yes, you may sit with him until Doctor Laird arrives. Jack is resting comfortably, however we did administer a mild sedative, so don't expect him to be completely lucid." Wexford stood up, "if you will all follow me please."

Jack's eyes were closed, when they walked into the room. The bed was raised to a sitting position, Mac quickly noted his vitals, blood pressure's good, heart rate slightly above his normal...

Jack opened his eyes, "hey Mac, how'm I doin?" He said hoarsely.

Mac stood at the side of the bed, "you did a number on yourself this time Jack but they're going to fix you up."

"Yeah, doc told me earlier. Guess you and me are gonna have matching shoulders huh?" Jack shrugged his shoulder and grimaced. "Ow, dammit."

Mac knew the feeling. "Don't try to move that shoulder Jack, it's not a good idea."

"Thanks for the tip Captain Obvious." Jack said, sounding a bit more like himself.

Riley and Bozer were standing at the end of the bed, both of them were trying not to stare, but curiosity and human nature took over.

Jack noticed their eyes shifting. "Get a good look kids, this is what happens when you don't listen to your school counselors." Jack tried to laugh at his own joke causing him to go into a coughing fit that quickly turned into wheezing shallow breaths.

Jack tried to lean forward causing him to groan and grit his teeth. Mac looked around for a nurse or the Doctor. He gently placed his hand on Jack's back trying to avoid the bruising and the bandage. "Take it easy Jack, we'll get somebody." Mac said as he looked at Bozer.

Bozer left to find some help. Riley placed her hand on Jack's foot, not really knowing what to do.

Jack stayed hunched over leaning to the left, still trying to catch his breath.

Bozer returned with a nurse, eyes wide at the site.

The nurse placed her hands on Jack's shoulders and lightly pushed him back to a sitting position. "Mr. Dalton, lay back, I need to open the valve then you should be able to breathe a little better, ok?"

Jack leaned back, eyes squeezed shut still trying to draw a breath. The nurse lifted the end of a section of tubing and turned a small plastic valve.

Jack visibly relaxed, opened his eyes and looked at each of his friends concerned looks. "Guess, no joking either." He said between breaths.

Riley wiped the moisture from her eyes, "Don't worry Ry, this ain't nothin, you shoulda seen me and Mac after Cairo." Jack smiled reassuringly.

Mac visibly relaxed, Jack's vitals were coming back to normal. "Hey, we don't talk about Cairo... Remember." He said mock scoldingly.

Doctor Wexford walked into the room followed by a tall man with short cropped hair. Mac instantly pegged him for military.

Riley turned toward the visitors, "Doctor Laird," she said.

At his confused look, "sorry, I uh looked you up." She held up the closed laptop.

Laird smiled a friendly smile. "That's ok, just shows you care about Jack here," Laird said moving to Jack's side. "Don't worry though, Jack and I go way back, don't we Jack?"

Jack stuck out his left hand careful not to pull the I.V. "How ya doin Doc, long time no see."

The two shook hands then Laird picked up Jack's right arm and started to gently manipulate the arm while feeling various spots on Jack's shoulder. Jack cringed at the movement. "Damn Doc, take it easy will ya?"

Laird smiled, "sorry Jack, I just wanted to see what you did to my fine bit of work."

Jack looked around the Doctor to Mac. "Mac, this here's the Doc that I told you about, put me back together good as new, gonna do the same here right Doc?"

This was the first time Mac heard the underlying fear in Jack's voice. It never occurred to Mac that Jack might not be able to come back to work. His fears were quickly relieved by Doctor Laird.

"Don't worry Jack, we'll have you fixed up in no time, don't want you laying down on the job for too long, you just rest here for a bit and I'm gonna go get scrubbed in." Laird nodded at the three friend's seeming to know they needed to hear that too.

"Alright Doc, I'll wait here for ya." Jack said obviously relieved.

Doctor Wexford looked at Mac. "The surgery should take about an hour, you want me to pencil you in while I've got Laird here?"

Mac looked to Jack then back to Wexford. "How long is Jack going to be laid up after surgery?"

Wexford took a deep breath calculating the different injury recovery times. "The ribs will take about four weeks, the shoulder is going to be a bit longer, normally I'd say three to four months but the way you guys operate, I'd say closer to three."

Mac bit his lip looking at Jack questioningly. Jack's eyebrows raised, "don't look at me bud, I got my own thing going on here."

"Mac, your's is a simple surgery comparatively, you'll be out thirty minutes or so." Wexford looked at his watch. "I'll give you time to think about it, let me know when we finish up with Jack here."

"Ok, let's just do it, might as well, we're both out of commission either way, right?" Mac swallowed nervously.

"Ok then, good. I'll let Doctor Laird know Phoenix is running a two for one special tonight." He started to leave, "say good bye to Jack and I'll send a nurse to prep you in a bit. Now, if you'll all go back to the waiting area, I'll be out to talk to you when we're done." He said looking at Riley and Bozer.

They said their goodbyes, the nurse took Mac into a different room and wheeled Jack away.

0-0-0

Riley busied herself by researching Doctor Wexford and Doctor Laird. They both graduated at the top of their class and both had distinguished military careers.

Doctor Wexford's online profile disappeared after 2010, but Riley found him under a different name still working at Los Angeles County USC hospital. He was head of their orthopedic department under the name of Doctor Williams.

Bozer returned from making a hot chocolate run. He sat down heavily with a sigh.

Riley looked up from her computer. "Something wrong?"

Bozer handed her a hot chocolate, "no, I mean, I don't know." He shook his head trying to get his thoughts in order. "I am so not ok with what Jack did. But he had to. I thought he was some kind of monster, I mean, who does that?" Bozer looked at Riley for answers. When she didn't say anything, he continued. "Until I saw him in the locker room, I had no idea what he went through. Who does that kind of stuff?"

Riley opened her computer and turned the screen toward him. Pictures of mass graves, burnt cars and bodies hanging from trees took up the screen. "Now that we've had a chance to breathe, I started looking into the things that have been going on where Jack was at. These are the less gory pictures by the way.

Bozer looked away from the pictures and Riley closed the screen. "I was having a hard time watching the guy that was practically my dad, doing the things we were seeing. It was like watching someone else, and I couldn't wrap my head around it."

"I know what you mean, I've been around Jack for a few years now, we've hung out together you know, like regular guys, and then this happens." Bozer said, waving his hand toward Riley's computer as if the entire incident was contained there.

"I get it Boze, I do, when I had my tonsils out, Jack sat by my bed and read my favorite books to me. He brought me coloring books and the big box of crayons. We did puzzles together and he even made homemade ice cream." She laughed.

"What?" Bozer asked.

"The ice cream was awful, but it was the thought that counted." She smiled at the memories. "I suppose, Jack is whoever and whatever we need him to be."

They both looked up when the door opened. Doctor Wexford walked into the room, wearing surgical scrubs.

At their expectant looks, "Well, the surgery went fine, Jack is in recovery. He'll be in there for a couple of hours. We're prepping Mac now so I'll come and get you when you can see them, ok."

"Ok. Thank you Doctor," Riley answered for both of them as he walked out of the room.

Bozer laughed, "I remember one time when Mac had a cast on his leg, from a supposed skiing accident," Bozer said, making air quotes with his fingers. "Jack showed up with an ice cream maker, I had to work but I remember him telling Mac that ice cream was his specialty. Since you brought it up, I remember when I got home, I tried it. You're right, it was awful."

The two friends laughed and continued to tell stories of Jack's antics while they waited.

0-0-0

Mac had been released the day after his procedure, to the relief of the nurses. While they enjoyed listening to the two friends stories of heroic deeds, the collection of spitballs on the wall near the garbage can, and having to untie the I.V. lines made into lasso's was getting tiring.

When Bozer and Riley came to get Mac, they showed up bearing gifts. Bozer reached into the large paper bag and handed Mac a wrapped box. "Thanks Boze, you didn't have to get me anything." He began manipulating the wrapping paper with difficulty, using one hand.

Riley leaned toward Bozer, "I told you it was a bad idea to wrap it."

Bozer moved to help Mac, "It's ok, Boze, I got it." He succeeded in unwrapping the package a moment later and smiled.

Jack craned his neck, "What is it?" He asked, trying to see into the box.

"It's a box of super sized plastic coated paper clips." Mac said, opening the box and taking out a large purple paper clip.

"I figured you'd have a hard time with the regular size one's, and I didn't want you to stab yourself so..." Bozer looked a little worried.

"They're perfect Boze." Mac said already manipulating the clip.

Jack smiled then looked down at his lap.

"Relax Jack, we didn't forget about you," Bozer smiled and pulled out a quart of vanilla gelato and a spoon.

"Doc Wex says you can have ice cream, just don't eat it all at once. The nurses said they'll keep it in the freezer for you." Bozer grinned and looked at Riley.

"Jack, I know you're right handed but..." She pulled out a super sized box of crayons and a G.I. Joe coloring book. "I've seen you color and I don't think you could do any worse lefty."

Jack was grinning from ear to ear and wiped his eyes. "Thank you Ry, and thanks for the ice cream Boze, I'll return the favor and make you some when I get out of here."

Bozer and Riley put their hands up, "That's ok, no need, you don't have to..." their words running over each other's."

Jack's brow furrowed, he looked at Mac. "Mac, you like my ice cream right?"

Mac smiled and his eyes softened, "I hate to tell you this buddy, but your ice cream is pretty awful, I mean it was good in Afghanistan but now that we're back in the states, you don't have to make ice cream from MRE's anymore." He said picking up the quart of gelato for emphasis.

Jack smiled, "I guess you're right, I've eaten that stuff for so long, I guess I just got used to the taste."

Doctor Wexford walked in and greeted the group. "Alright Mac, you're all set, I want to see you back here in five days to remove the stitches, until then, take it easy, use ice packs and take the medication as prescribed." He said glancing at Bozer.

Bozer nodded, "I'll make sure he does, and Jack too when he gets out of here."

"Wait, what?" Jack said at hearing his name.

"You're staying with us for a few days, Jack." Bozer said with authority.

Jack looked at Mac, "What's got into him?"

Mac put his hand up, "I have no idea, but just go with it, at least he's a good cook." Mac smiled.

"Alright, looks like you've got everything under control," Wexford said looking at Bozer.

Bozer's chest puffed out and he smiled at the acknowledgement.

"Jack, I'll be in to check on you later, you should be getting out of here in a day or two. Just keep blowing on the spirometer every hour or so, have to keep those lungs inflated. Let the nurse know if you start to feel any pain, I have to go do my rounds, it was nice seeing you all." He said as he walked out.

"So, how we getting home?" Mac asked.

Riley and Bozer shared a look, Riley was smiling as she walked to the window and pulled down the shades. "You're chariot awaits."

Mac looked out the window, there in the parking lot was a pink camouflage Jeep. Mac looked closer, inspecting the vehicle, not believing his eyes. He took in the brown top, pink color with branches painted on it making the camouflage pattern.

"Oh, no she didn't! Mac said dropping the shade and reaching for his phone. He started toward the door, turning to Jack. "I'll see you when you get home buddy, I gotta..." he shook his head, "I've got to go talk to Matty."

Jack, Riley and Bozer all stood with their mouths open.

Jack finally spoke, "What the hell is in that parking lot that's got Mac so upset?"

Riley had a hurt look on her face, "I don't know, I was just showing him my new Jeep and he freaked."

Jack started smiling, "New Jeep?"

"Yeah, I got tired of riding my bike all the time and Bozer's car is a piece of... um, work, so I bought a Jeep just like Mac has, except mine's pink cammo." She beamed, proud of her purchase.

Jack started to laugh then thought better and just grinned. "Well, congratulations, Matty'll love it, you ought to show it to her sometime. She even threatened to paint Mac's Jeep pink cammo if he wasn't a good boy." Jack shook his head smiling.

Bozer and Riley understood what Jack had just said and started toward the door, "Mac!" Bozer yelled and ran after his friend. He quickly ran back to Jack's door skidding to a stop, "Get better Jack, I'll pick you up when you're ready." He said hastily and left again, running after Mac.

Riley smiled and said, "Well, I better get going too, I'm driving them. Take care of yourself Jack, we need you back."

"When you feel up to it, maybe you could teach me how to drive four wheeling, now that I got the Jeep." She raised her eyebrows expectantly.

"I'd love to do that Ry, just give me a bit, I gotta sort some things out, know what I mean?"

She walked over to his side and leaned over, planting a soft kiss on his forehead. "I'll see you later Jack." And she walked out the door.

Jack sat in silence, letting his mind go blank. There was nothing to think about, no missions, no one to worry about. He looked toward the window.

Kicking off his covers, he slowly swung his legs off the side of the bed, grabbing the side of the bed, he pulled himself up to sit on the edge. Taking a minute to let the dull ache stop, he stepped on the linoleum floor and stood.

Jack slowly walked to the window and pulled down the shade, chuckling at the sight.

He couldn't hear what was going on but he could interpret body language. Mac was pacing in front of the pink Jeep waving his good arm when Bozer came running into view. A few minutes later, Riley followed.

Mac visibly calmed down and all three got into the Jeep and drove off.

Jack walked slowly back to his bed. He got situated and pulled the tray back over his lap. He opened the gelato and stabbed the spoon in the top, pulling it out, he savored the flavor. _Maybe they're right, this stuff's better than the MRE ice cream_.

Jack reached forward and opened the box of crayons. Looking at all of the colors, he reached for the coloring book. "Duke my man, you're getting an upgrade, how about we give you desert cammo."

To be continued in the epilogue

A/N: I hope you enjoyed this, hope it wasn't too much with the medical stuff. It's sort of my thing, so it's easy to get caught up in while writing. Epilogue coming shortly.


	17. Chapter 17

A/N: Thank you to everyone that reviewed/read/favorited etc. I hope you enjoyed the story. A huge thanks to Dlwells51 for seriously saving my butt with punctuation and the use of words that were way more descriptive than my original stuff. (She hasn't seen my A/N's yet so you can get an idea of what she has to deal with.)

Warnings: None

Disclaimer: Come and get it!

0-0-0

A week after being released, Jack sat out on the deck at Mac's house. He was watching the sun come up. The man in the distance walked out to his car, Jack closed his eyes.

He heard footsteps behind him. "Morning Boze," he said without moving.

"Damn Jack, how do you always know it's me?" Bozer said as he sat down in the chair next to Jack.

Jack looked at him and smiled. "You have two distinct gates, one when you're excited and one when you're trying to be quiet."

At Bozer's confused look, Jack continued his explanation. "Everybody walks different, and everything makes a sound, you just have to listen. Mac walks with a purpose every where he goes, unless he's tired or hurt, then he shuffles." Jack smiled.

"Riley drags her right heel a little bit unless she's mad, then she stomps. Matty has quick uneven steps. Like I said, you just have to listen." Jack looked down, flexing his right hand.

"You're shoulder ok? When did you take your last pain pill? Want me to go get you one?" Bozer rapid fired the questions.

Jack held up his hand, "I'm fine Boze, this ain't nothin."

Bozer stared out into the distance, glancing every now and then at Jack.

Jack sat perfectly still, eyes fixed on a single point.

After a few minutes of complete silence, "What's on your mind Boze?" Jack said still looking straight ahead.

Bozer shifted uncomfortably in the chair. He opened his mouth to speak then shut it.

Finally getting up the courage, he asked softly, "How do you do the stuff you do?"

Jack dropped his head and took a deep breath letting it out quickly when he felt a twinge. "Do what, you mean kill people?"

Bozer was taken back at the blunt question. But he'd asked, "Um yeah, I guess that's what I'm asking. I mean, all those guys were probably awful guys, but still..."

"That's the thing Boze, some of them were probably decent guys just doing their job. Some were men that could kill an innocent person with less thought than it takes to order a coffee."

"Hell, Boze, I've been a soldier all my life." Jack looked him in the eye.

I don't like killing, but I'm good at it. Uncle Sam made me that way. Those men I killed... they had families that are missing their loved ones right now, and that's something I''m going to have to live with for the rest of my life."

"But, if I would have let them live, how many families would have lost their loved ones because of those weapons?"

"How many civilians that never chose to become a soldier and fight would have been killed?"

"How many children wouldn't get the chance to experience life, their first kiss, their first car, going to the movies?"

"Those are the people I think about, you understand what I'm saying?" Jack looked out over the back wall.

"You see that guy there?" Jack pointed to a man coming out of his house. "He's probably going to a job he hates, something he doesn't think is worth his time and doesn't mean anything to anybody. Just for a paycheck you know?"

Bozer looked at the man Jack was watching.

"He gets to do that because of me and all the men before me that took an oath. He gets to go to his crappy job, because somewhere in time, a soldier either took a life, or gave his own life for that man. To me, that is the most noble thing one man can do for another."

" _That's_ how I can do the things I do Boze." Jack stood up stiffly.

Bozer looked up at him. "Where are you going?"

"I'm gonna go grab my stuff and head on home." Jack said starting to walk away.

"But why? Jack, you don't have to leave. I get it, I really do. I just, I don't know... I don't think I could do what you do. Not because of some screwed up moral compass, just... well, I don't know if I would be too afraid."

Jack stopped. "Bozer, I am always afraid. Afraid I won't be there, afraid I'll miss and somebody I love will get hurt. Being afraid is what makes you human."

"Alright Jack, then stay, I'm not afraid of you. I'm _afraid_ of the things you know how to do and I'm _afraid_ I won't be there if Mac needs me." Bozer smiled.

"What are you smiling at?" Jack asked confused.

"Jack, will you teach me how to shoot?" Bozer walked to the older man and put his arm around Jack's good shoulder.

Jack started toward the house, "Bozer?"

"Yes Jack,"

"Take your damn hand off my shoulder before I rip it off and feed it to you." Jack said in his most menacing voice, then turned and smiled a genuine Jack Dalton smile.

Bozer stepped back, "Dude, there is something seriously wrong with you." Bozer beamed.

"Come on, I'll show you how to make my world famous omelettes." Bozer said, as he walked in front of Jack.

Mac ducked behind the kitchen counter and headed for the hall. He'd been watching his two best friends the entire time they were outside. Relieved they were both getting back to normal, from the hall, he could hear Jack.

 _"Dude, why is it everything you make is world famous? How big of a world do you think we live in?"_

Yep, Mac thought, things are definitely getting back to normal.

 **The end**

A/N: Well, there it is. I hope you enjoyed the story.

I've never written anything other than a short piece and this story. So, if you've ever entertained the idea of writing a story, one shot, tag, etc., go for it! If I can do it, so can you. Besides, we need more reboot fics! Anybody that wants to use anything I've created, go for it. I'm a huge Jack fan so... You can bend him, just don't break him permanently. The OC's I've created are all yours too. Dr. Wexford, Dr. Laird, Blackhawk crew: Long, Bell, Douglas, Cavitt. Mike Briar, the jerk CIA guy, and good CIA guy Rogers.

Thanks for sticking with this.

-Gib-


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